Hanging By A Moment
by JennyK
Summary: old story reposting NS & GC pairing complete ch9 & yes this goes way back to early days of CSI when it was actually good! cliffhanger part2 & not done yet also lengthened this chpt & updated little from unbound in this same chpt.
1. Chapter 1

Hanging by a Moment

Author: Jen

DONE YEARS AGO BUT REPOSTING AS WORTH IT!

Nick/Sara & everybody else!, major angst done in flashback, this is only the intro and has a long way to go yet, just this story would not go away, so read & see what you think. All comments welcome.

This is sort of different anyway!

These characters don't belong to me, I just borrowed them! This is my first and probably last attempt at CSI so here goes nothing!

It was just a moment, one that would change his life in much the same way that Sara had changed his, as he opened the door to his apartment and looked at the vaguely familiar face; it was the only look he got.

As something sharp hit his left temple hard, added to that he felt himself being thrown back into his apartment, he landed badly on the glass coffee table. Hearing it crack as his left arm hit it with force; glass cutting deep into his left wrist, blood started streaming from it down onto the carpet, he felt his watch slip from his wrist as well, not that he could do much about it, numbness and shock was starting to set in, his breathing starting to come in shallow gasps.

He tried to focus but his body was not responding, the room kept blotting in and out and he realized with certainty he was about to die.

Pain from his temple tore deep into him; he was going to loose consciousness fast as he felt another blow to his left temple, this was far harder than the first, some part of him had to fight as he felt himself being lifted, the slight pain from his wrist gone and the world and all that was important to him faded to black…

Sara looked at her five year old son, partly in pride he was growing strong and bright for his years but she also felt guilt when as she looked into those innocent warm brown eyes of her son, it was his father that was looking back at her and the fact he would never see this little man grow and become like him, it choked her even know almost six years later.

Carefully lifting him, ruffling the brown hair, the kid smiled and she hoped at least in some ways he would not take after his father but by the looks of it, with that smile and those innocent eyes she had no hope and wished once more that Nicky Stokes was here to see this.

She sighed long and deep looking out her window Catherine would be coming in a short time, after she had got back from some special case in Dallas… Dallas her thoughts turned inwards, Nick had came from there and ended up working in the dazzling back drop of Las Vegas as CSI.

A smile came to her face remembering his enthusiasm and humanity that he applied to everything, something she had loved from the first, without even knowing it. Only fate brought them together and the seed that had been there since the first moment she had laid eyes on that vulnerable but strong man was allowed to flourish the friendship turning to something more before it was all taken from her, almost all as she looked at her son…

Tears started to come as she looked out onto the bright suburban street, which was her backyard. For a moment she closed her eyes, took her hand to her cheek wiping away the tears, she was not sure how long she had looked out that window thinking about him, but the tug at her arm implied that someone was hungry but she was mistaken looking down into the all too serious eyes of her son:

'Where is daddy?' the one questioned she had always dreaded and knew would inevitably come and the truth was although he was more than likely to be dead she could not bring herself to say it.

The boy stood impatiently looking from her to the one of the few photos' there was of her and Nick together, it was an old photo, long before there relationship but it captured them perfectly:

Nick to taken with the work at hand, was busy showing her what he had unearthed, he was looking up at her, she smiling down at him questioning what he had found. The light of the camera silhouetted him to the grimy but photogenic backdrop but it was the look on that handsome face of his more than anything, the love in those intense brown eyes even then for her, he was reaching up to grab her hand just as the camera had clicked, picture perfect and it felt like a life time ago, as the same brown eyes of his son, asked the question she could not answer.

It was at that moment the phone rang and once more those serious brown eyes looked into hers:

'Will I get it mum?' somehow with that look in his face and confidence far beyond his years; she quickly regained her composure she had to be strong for his sake.

The phone was still ringing and had thankfully given her leeway to get of the subject of his father, she shook her head:

'I'll get it' and with that she smiled her son looked at her, with that same look as his father on him again, gaining strength from that look, she tried to block out the flashback of Nick wrapping his arms round her and the safety that came with that feeling. However it was pointless as she remembered the warmth of his touch and the protection that came with it but her son quickly brought her back to the present the image gone:

'I love you mum' they looked at each other a moment longer and then she raced to get the phone, hoping it would be Catherine.

Grissom waited impatiently trying hard not to think of times past but it was not helping, he had probably sent Catherine to a dead end but for some reason a hunch maybe or just because he genially thought a lot of Sara and that boy of hers and like the whole team even after all of this time and even though all the evidence at the time proved that Nicky Stokes was probably more dead than alive, some part of him would never accept that he was simply gone.

His eyes turned to the folder sitting on his desk, sighing deeply he opened the missing persons folder, the spare copy, Catherine had taken the original with her but they both said the same thing as he looked at the name written in bright red felt tip at the top – Nicky Stokes.

The photo of his once colleague was the first thing to great him, he glanced at it but quickly went to the written documents, the evidence, his finger tapped the desk nervously and without thinking brought the photo which had been at the front out of its pocket and laid it next to the written documents. This was all there was.

Nick had been one of the best Crime Scene Investigator that he had worked with and he had always been so dam serious about his work, it was ironic that the great Grissom could not get to the bottom of what had happened to the once happy, energetic young man and with that he swept the folder of his desk, its contents falling to the floor …

'Go to hell Grissom' the tone fierce, the eyes dark in intensity and rage, the usually handsome features, were drawn and defiant as Sara watched Nick Stokes in disbelief as he defied his boss outright in front of everyone. His gaze fell on her, she seen pain and fear in those brown eyes before the glazed look came back over them, as his attack on Grissom continued:

'The evidence is wrong, we're missing something.' The tone gentler now, less sure than before as Grissom just stood his ground but Sara could see the worry in his eyes as well, as Gil at last spoke:

'Nick you're way to close and you now it. The kid murdered his father in cold blood the evidence is there right in front of you, and if you were not so dam stubborn and used your intellect, instead of your heart, you might see sense'

At this Warrick added:

'Nick come on you've seen this type of thing before and not even batted an eye lid, what's so different this time?' The two friendly competitors looked at each other; one trying desperately to help a friend, the other was in hell and trying to fight his way out by burdening his rage on his colleagues.

Sara watched more closely this time her usually sensitive colleague, flinched at Warrick's words, she realised the nerve had been hit hard, as the dark demon that seemed to have taken over Nick Stokes choose its next victim.

As the handsome man's gaze drifted back to her and rested, she felt herself step back, not liking the look in his eyes. As he ignore Warrick's words.

For not the first time in this day, did she wish she could have the Nick that turned on the charm. To get what he wanted and always more or less got. That smile which could make any heart sing and those usually soft brown eyes, that she had to admit, had hidden depths, which some part of her had always wanted to explore in more ways than she even wanted to admit to herself…

However right now as the ever increasing silence cut with dagger intensity into each of them, Sara wondered what was behind that smile and that squeaky clean personality, that attracted women like a magnet and her own past told her, that Nick had not had it easy and even now life was tearing apart what made him a good man. This was her last thought as his tone casual uttered the question no one dared ask, the dark hatred in his eyes hitting a new intensity and she was the target:

'So what is it between you and Gill here?' it was said without feeling and that made it hurt all the more, her gaze shifted to the floor but she just had time to see Grissom's face turn to pure anger and hate, the boss turned on Nick:

'How dare you ask that?' the tone even darker than Nick's, she looked at him in disbelief she felt tears spring from her eyes as the dark brown eyes still burned with nothing but hate in them as Nick looked from her to Grissom, answering his own question:

'So it is true then' Sara found Gill's gaze but she looked past him to Nick and wondered what the hell was going on in that head of his, her only other thought was that he was half right and half wrong. Yea there was something between her and Gill something which no one could touch but it was not what the CSI three thought it was.

Catherine watched the explosion of feelings in the room, cursing herself for not saying what she had been vowed to keep secret by the man she somehow seen as a son. More vulnerable and sensitive than either Warrick or Sara, and for that reason alone, she had respected his wishes when he returned from his time off and not mentioned the real reason for his absence.

The brown eyes were on her know, pain, hate and fear was all that shone in them and she acknowledged something to herself, Nick had been through hell in the last year and when had finely decided to take a little time of to get his new apartment sorted out, fate had sent him another fatal blow, sending him back to his roots to Dallas.

She found her voice loud and unyielding, rebounding of what Nick had just said and turning the table's something she had always done well:

'Ask him about Dallas Grissom', Gil turned to her in puzzlement, Sara and Warrick also lifting there heads in unison but it was the figure that stood apart from the rest that was struck the hardest blow.

The dark demon within finely relenting as she seen his gaze soften, she had no clue herself what had happened. Only the nit pickings he had given her of his family history and as she seen the pain surface in his eyes, she wondered how much Nick cursed his family name and what he had been born into, as she kept her gaze firmly on him, to see what his response would be.

There was no response though or not the one she had hoped for anyway as his look hardened again:

'I don't belong here'

Under current circumstances and what he had just said to Gill, Nick was probably right but Catherine knew there was more to that comment than that as he backed out the room.

Years later she also found a greater irony in that one comment it was the only place he belonged. That same thought ran through her head as she looked at these two signatures right in front of her, one the ink was just drying, the other was an eight year old signature but they were both the same hand writing.

She smiled as a pair of brown eyes searched hers for understanding, Grissom had been right on the hunch that had brought her all the way here to this café on the suburbs of Dallas, it had been a long time coming, a lot had changed in that time as well but it was worth it as she looked in those brown eyes that still did not know her yet…

To Be Continued


	2. Bloodlines

Hanging by a Moment

- Blood Lines

Part 2

Author: Jen

THE REFORMATTED VERSION which means for you readers you should get it the way it is in my word document & not the confused first version that was up that got messed up in the uploading with all those long paragraphs, so sorry & you have a point there is two separate stories in a way but it should merge into one in the next two chapters!

Note: ok I could say a whole lot instead all I will say is this story is about the relationships between each character & I tried to make something from what the official site tells you about Nick although whether I've done any of these characters justice remains to be seen I leave that up to you & this story is still no where near complete! N/S & possible hint of G/C

Sorry this took so long work and the fact its not my computer has held this up and if I done this half right it should pose more questions than answers…

MAJOR ANGST & these characters do not belong to me I just borrowed them again!

It was as he expected a large gathering, Stokes was a familiar name in these parts and his father had been well liked. However as he stood now; slightly apart from the rest of his siblings, his eyes studying those mourners who had come to gather for a man that had reached the top of his profession on the Texas Supreme Court before his sudden untimely death only two days ago.

All his well trained CSI mind could think about was of those that had come and shook his hand and stood before him now had not been his father's friend but had been his enemy, for the justice system like everything else had those kinds of enemies to many more to the point…

He shook his head trying to clear it wondering why the heck that thought had even entered it; his father had died of natural causes nothing more. His gaze fell back on the coffin and he felt something inside give his thoughts becoming altogether different…

Death leaves nothing; the soul gone, the body borne back unto the earth that it came from, it is final and complete and the coffin hit the dark Texas soil…

A shiver ran through him although it was not cold remembering the blank dead eyes of his father. The father that could no longer see the son returned to him by his own death.

His heart was confused even now looking at the open grave that would be his father's last resting place. He closed his brown eyes but the memories still came. Of the father that he was never fully able to gain the respective off, whom never fully understood how much damage one last minute baby sitter done to the live of his youngest son.

It was to impact the rest of his life, the choices he made and mould him into the man he had become.

Blood runs thicker than water; he was his father's flesh and blood. Law and justice had been forever part of Nicholas Stokes life; he had been borne to it ….

* * *

Grissom looked round this unique and elite team his eyes fell on the empty chair; trying to will someone back that would not appear he remembered, how six months before in this very room Nick had told him to go to hell.

Now he was missing and he would give anything to hear that voice or see that CSI three at this table. If ever there was a time when he needed the essential elements that Nick Stokes added to this team. Then this was it. The enthusiasm, drive and humanity that Nick had always given were now deprived from them; it struck deep within them and hampered them as much as the lack of evidence.

His steal gaze looked round his remaining colleague's landing first on Sara who sat expressionless but he seen the fire in her eyes, the seriousness in her gaze and most of all the love in them for a man that should have been sitting directly across from her, right at this minute.

Beside Sara sat Warrick his coolness gone, like the friend that was also gone, staring at him impatiently to hurry up and get this surreal meeting started.

With that his gaze came to Catherine last who carried the heaviest burden the first to arrive at the crime scene and the first to break the news that one of there own was missing, he could only imagine what had gone through her head when she opened that apartment door.

Never had talking to his team been as hard as it was at this moment or more crucial; they were running out of time, running a gauntlet to which they were going to loose. They had now reached the critical twenty four hours and they're was nothing; no lead, no signs and no real clues, just blood…

* * *

_'I don't belong here'_ it was the tone more than anything, that gripped her heart, there was a plea in those words as Nick Stokes backed out the room, like Warrick and Grissom she had seen the change at the mention of Dallas as Catherine tried diffuse the situation, for a moment those brown eyes shone gently as though a great burden had been lifted from him.

Yet she knew herself he was not ready to deal or talk, the battle within had already went to far and those words proved that, he took the only alternative route, to escape before Grissom could question him and in all respects she could not blame him…

* * *

For Warrick the last two steps into that apartment were the worst for him up until then he could handle it; for until that moment it was not a reality now it was. For a moment he remembered Holly Gribbs just this was in a whole new league, one that he could not even begin to comprehend.

The hand of the women that he had been holding tightly up until know fell from his grasp, the inhuman almost animal like cry from his colleague and friend, shook him to the core and summed up how he felt. He would never forget it, even a little short of nine months later when altogether different cry would give him hope.

However at the current moment he could not see into the future, all he could see was a crime scene he stepped forward there was no going back now. As he heard Grissom behind him trying to calm the inconsolable; his own eye fell on the one person who stood at the far end of the room, she stood at the window emotionless and silent but her eyes gave away all that she felt, it was Catherine.

Ignoring her gaze he tried to get his CSI mind in gear as he looked over the apartment there was no pictures thankfully but it did not make things any easier, he could still recognise it as Nick Stokes apartment.

It was neat well laid out, books, trophies, CD's and computer games. The TV was switched on but he ignored the baseball being played on it, the room felt eerie evil had touched it tainting the ordinary surroundings.

One rucksack lay of just to his left, it had not been touched he was well aware what was in it though, paragliding gear, for that was where Nick had been earlier in the day, the place where he had last been seen alive.

Then his gaze fell on the cracked broken coffee table, with dried blood all over it, the late evening sunlight bathing it in a grotesque fashion. Underneath the broken table lay something that sent a chill through him, for it was something so small yet significant, seen everyday and yet unique to the person that wore it.

Nick's watch the face was cracked, its buckle broken, blood on the strap of it as well but he could see by the illumines dials that it was still going as it lay on its side on the bloodied carpet, completely out of place.

Then there was the carpet, two patches of blood, the watch lay in the smaller of the two among shards of bloodied glass. The other darker larger more gruesome blood stained patch lay between the broken coffee table and the sofa; there was no hiding the amount of blood loss, the light capturing it only magnified it. He turned back to Sara seeing the fear in her eyes it shone in his as well that Nick Stokes was gone and was more than likely to be dead gone.

However Warrick could not think of Nick like that as a victim it did not seem right or fair; that he of all people would end up being there top priority case and missing to go along with it and that they were more than liking to be searching for his body, which could lying in ditch or shallow grave waiting for them to find and identify.

It made him feel sick, that the man and friend he had spoken to only the day before who had seemed larger than live, could be taken from them in such a way. Nick was someone that stood for the better things in life, with his charismatic ways and winning charm, a true people's person and the touchstone of the team in many ways; even if Gill would never give him that credit.

Someone touched his shoulder, tampering his line of thought it was Catherine there eyes met and he found his voice but the words did not ring true:

'We'll find him Catherine'

She nodded but could no longer meet his gaze he looked back at the door, one other figure had appeared it was Brass and he was busy questioning Sara asking the questions he probably already knew the answer to:

'Any other identifying features, anything you think we've missed?'

The question were to herself but along with her Grissom answered, Gill replying no with certainty, with tears in her eyes she looked past Warrick and Catherine to the floor answering yes:

'Silver ring worn on the middle finger of his right hand'

Sara seen Brass nod, the pain in his eyes betrayed the calm voice that had asked the questions, he was only doing his job and she was well aware that Brass had in his own way been just as close to Nick as any of them.

The questions kept coming though that she did not want to hear or answer, each one brought a new level of pain, a pain like nothing she had felt before as Brass and Gill's voices began to sound distant as she continued to look at the blood stained carpet, her thoughts were only thinking of him, she was thinking back to another time, the first time she had laid eyes on this apartment six months before.

She could see Warrick looking carefully over the broken blood streaked coffee table in the fading light, her gaze shifted out the window to the blood red of the horizon on those mountains as the Nevada sun slowly set, her gaze shifted back to the couch as she remembered the figure lying there in the same sort of light six months earlier..

* * *

_The door opened_, the two attempts of knocking had gained no response so she had simply done the only other thing try the handle hoping the door was not locked. It had worked as her gaze now swept what lay in front of her it was a sight that would forever be in her memory…

The sun was starting to set, giving the room a warm glow; she took in the books where she had crime novels Nick had law books as she remembered Catherine's words from earlier in the day about his late father. It was much the same as his previous apartment, just a lot brighter and bigger with a nice view out onto those mountains.

Looking around her she took the open-plan room in; CD's, computer games and the other essentials of a TV and computer were at the far end of the room next to the large window.

Directly in front of her was the sitting area, two chairs and one couch, with a coffee table in front of the couch.

Of to her left she could see a nice modern if not bare kitchen, directly of to her right lay the hall and another two doors, it was in all accounts quite high standard for a CSI and a lot better than her own apartment.

Lying stretched out on the couch oblivious to her and dead to the world; the late evening sun bathing the handsome features was the person that had brought her here, although he did not know that fact.

Nick Stokes lay in a deep sleep, she could see by the dying light the slight even movement of his chest under the same cotton shirt he had worn at work; his features still withdrawn the face ash white in sleep, the brown hair slightly ruffled, one arm lying limply of the edge of the couch barely touching the coffee table and what lay on it.

Her eye went to what was on the table; she could see from here an empty box of sleeping tablets, coming closer but not waking him, she lifted the empty glass and guessed correctly it had had alcohol in it and by the smell of it vodka. Her worried eye came back to the vulnerable form like before she wondered what the hell was going on in that head of his.

Putting the glass down, she turned to the only other thing lying on the table, the light shining of it, something she recognised well, the silver ring that Nick usually wore.

Curiosity getting the better of her, she lifted the ring from its place in the fading light she could just see in the inside of it his name inscrolled on the silver it was at that moment she became aware that the sleeping form was coming to.

The hand that hung limply began to twitch slightly; his eye lids flickered for a moment and then opened fully, the darkness that had been there previously was gone as she looked deep into those soft still brown pools that were now slowly beginning to focus in on her.

The ring dropped from her fingers with the intensity of that gaze, it chimed of the glass, at last coming to a dead stop in the centre of the glass table, startling them both…

Sleep had fallen on him like a blissful escape from a world that had been torturing him; it was a deep dreamless world, where nothing touched him and the burning rage that had swallowed him before finely ceased to exist.

However something had disturbed him, awaking him from that slumber where he would have happily stayed. Sensing someone was watching him he slowly opened his eyes and found himself gazing directly into a dark fiery worried set of eyes.

It was at that moment whatever his colleague had lifted fell, it startled him bringing him fully awake as the echoing noise directly across from him stopped his gaze fell onto the ring and then back on Sara Sidle.

The dark starlight intelligent eyes looked clearly into his, the light that his eyes were still trying to adjusting to, illuminated her lithe body to him. The dark shoulder length mane of hair hung freely down, half covering those gentle features that had always mesmerised him.

They looked at one another a minute more, before he sat up and half regretted doing so as he felt his head spin with that one simple action. Groaning inwardly he put his head back on the cushion; Sara was smiling at him mischievously.

His eye went to the door remembering now that he had not locked it, that he had simply slammed the door shut on his return from that nightmare of a shift. The dark eyes had followed his only one question came to mind as he at last found his voice which sounded groggy even to his ears:

'Did Grissom send you?'

Once more that smile crossed Sara's face as she answered:

'Maybe'

He went to reply then changed his mind as going by the look on that face it was going to be the only answer he was going to get. Her penetrating gaze was still on him though as an awkward silence descended between them; something usually unaccustomed to them but considering all that had been said back at the labs, he was having a hard enough time looking her straight in the eye.

After a moment, she sighed gave him annoyed look and then taking things into her own hands. Lifted the glass on the table and disappeared from his view. The next thing he heard was water being run and his kitchen units being opened and then shut, that noise alone made his head ache; his colleague reappeared with a glass of water, sitting it down directly in front of him finding himself once more under her all too serious worried gaze:

'Might make you feel a little better'

The dark eyes left him with no leeway; he took a sip of the cool water, which did seem to hit the mark. Putting the glass down on the coffee table he lifted the ring putting it back on, the dark eyes gave him a look again but instead of trying to meet her gaze he found solos in the floor but it was not going to last:

'So what did happen in Dallas?'

He had to hand it to her Sara was direct always had been, he ignored the question though trying to change the subject:

'Guess I'm not too popular at the moment'

She rolled her eyes as he took another sip of the water he was putting of the inevitable and this woman knew that:

'Understatement' and Sara glared at him before hitting him with her next question:

'Were you close to your father' this time there gaze met, there was a look of concern on Sara's face, so she did know and he had no doubt who would have told her. He had left Catherine with no option but tell them and Sara was asking the questions that in truth he was having a hard enough time answering for himself…

Those brown eyes flicked a glare at her, the words snapped out:

'You would not understand Sara'

She felt like whacking him one were it not for the look in those brown eyes and that he sometimes did let his stubborn nature get the better of him, which it was doing right at this minute . However she was not going to let this man of the hook that easy:

'Nick answer the god dam question'

The tone was crueller than she really meant it to be but she seen she had shaken him, his altogether serious gaze loosing its edge under her words, those brown eyes darted of her for a moment but she was well aware that she had him cornered. She waited keeping her gaze firmly on that lean form across from her.

The dark eyes glared at him alight with that fire, Sara was mad at him and sooner or later he was going to need to answer her, in the end in a matter of fact tone that did not suit him he replied no.

Sara arched her eyebrow at him not buying what he had just said. There gaze met again and the look she gave him, melted the ice which surrounded his heart as he realised one way or the other. Sara was going to force him to talk about a past that he had been forever running away from, she tried again using a different tact:

'So why did the Wilkinson case get to you so much?'

It was the final push; the brown eyes softened, the pools becoming shear innocence and she seen that those words had at last broken the barriers to which her colleague had surrounded himself:

'Hate does things to you Sara, bad things like what that kid did slitting his father's throat. I thought I felt that same way about my own father, I learned to late I did not.'

Gathering his emotions he let it hang at that trying to figure out the best way to tell her the rest:

The words came slowly at first of the father he had looked up to since he was knee high; who had made it his life and his children's to uphold the law and the justice system it was what had made Tom Stokes one of the best district attorneys in the state; it was in the blood he somehow managed a half grin at this point, remembering the grandfather that he had been named after.

How each of his siblings, had in one way or the other followed there parents, his only other brother ten years older than him, had followed directly into his fathers footsteps. He hesitated for a moment not mentioning that Ryan Stokes was in everyway the epitaph of his father and that they were as different as night and day, as far apart as any two brothers could be.

What he did tell his colleague though, was that his family was close and he was proud of his family name which was true, his parents had worked hard all there life to provide for them and that they had indeed loved all there children, to which he had been the last untimely surprise, Sara smiled at him at the mention of that but he ignored the look.

The brown warm eyes were now distant to her away in another time and another place, the voice audible but faint as he started to reminisce about his family that he clearly loved. Even with its complexities she could see that he had enjoyed the Texas childhood he had had as the youngest of seven.

Just something had happened somewhere down the line as she seen his features darken, the brown eyes hitting an intensity of darkness that she had never seen before, there was a haunted look in them:

'Then when I was nine Sara there was this last minute baby sitter…she …I'

It was like when he had told Catherine words failed him, as he stammered through that

Memory; that he could not erase but he could see by the shock look in Sara's gaze she had read between the lines:

'She was meant to be someone I could trust'

Was all he could say to complete his statement as a cold tear run down his cheek, his voice now ragged:

'I was never the same kid again the physical scars went but the emotional ones stayed and she got away with it in the end. There was no justice and I blamed the only person I could at the time. My father and the fact he never realised how much damage she done.'

He stopped unable to continue; finding refuge in the serenity of those dark eyes that were looking directly into his; the look touched his soul drawing strength from it he continued:

'It drove a wedge between us Sara, one that only got worse with the years'

The handsome features were etched in pain; the eyes brown wells of despair of pain that had never gone away even with all the years. She felt like hugging him but was well aware at the current moment that was not what he was looking for.

That Nick did not want to be seen as a victim of some long ago crime that had by all accounts changed his life in more ways than one, she done the only thing that came to mind.

In one sure movement she moved to sit beside him, taking that cold strong gentle hand in hers. There gaze met the look in those brown eyes went straight to her heart but no words were spoken between them, as the hand in hers responded tightening its grip of her smaller one.

That simple gesture of the touch of that warm hand onto his sent a tremor through him. The touch calming the feelings that wanted to overcome him, finding himself gripping that small hand all the tighter as though it were a life line:

'You know Sara; I could not forgive him but I still wanted his respect'

He shrugged his shoulders in frustration, at the paradox that had followed him every step of the way.

His brown eyes became distant to her again the voice barely audible now as his gaze left hers completely after that last statement. As the Nick Stokes that sat before her now relived his youth:

'I was a wild card Sara, a wild card hiding under a dependable image, covering the pain that drove all my decisions, which was all linked back to that one event. It did not help either that by the time I left college I had pretty much made a name for myself as a ladies man and both my parents disapproved of that, I was taking a different path from all my other siblings and that pleased neither of them either'

Sara's voice cut in dragging him back from the memories:

'So you were the black sheep of the Stokes family Nick?'

Sara was smiling at him he did not return it though:

'Yea you could put it that way'

And she realised that as the features darkened to a scowl that comment had been the wrong thing to say the brown eyes gave her a glare again, as Nick continued dismissing her comment completely:

'My choice in career was the final blow; my father could not handle me being a cop. Although for me it offered everything or at least I thought it did'

There gaze met the dark intensity of those eyes overpowered him as though Sara could see right through him, right into his very heart and he had to steal himself from that gaze:

'In the end though it was the final straw for both of us, the more he disapproved of my career and the danger I put myself in; the more determined I became, my mother became the go between and everybody else just looked on.'

He sighed looking at the hand linked in his:

'Just Tom Stokes was right in the end; my luck ran out and was it not for my colleague at the time I would not be here at all. I was way to flighty a cop and that did just about cost my life.'

He looked at Sara again she was not judging him though she sent him a smile instead:

'So what cop do we owe the thanks to Nick?'

It was a diversion but one he did not mind telling:

'Max Calder and you would like him a lot Sara, cool kind of guy like Warrick in many respects.'

Sara nodded at him satisfied with his answer giving him a look to continue with whatever else he was going to say, he stifled a grin at her and continued:

'I relented to both my parents wishes after that although it was more of a compromise in the end I became a CSI.'

That smile crossed Sara's face again her tone upbeat:

'Right choice Stokes'

The hand in his added a little pressure but he ignored her gaze:

'My father knew me better than I knew myself at the time that I had never been cut out for a cop. I could not handle the fact he had been right about me plus I was still blaming him for something that happened a lifetime ago. I hated him for that and we barely spoke from then on Sara'

With that comment his thoughts drifted back to that time with regret, when whatever he felt for his father had simply turned to hate the wedge between them coming to much as he turned into an all to defiant son. The last bonds between them breaking as he drifted away from Tom Stokes and the rest of his close nit family.

Turning instead to his work putting everything into being a CSI and finding along with all the other reasons he had told Grissom, that the work gave him the justice that some part of him had always sought.

Along with that compared to the rest of his settled siblings, some part of him wanted away from the Texas heartlands where he and generations before him had grown up and settled with that his gaze fell again on Sara's starlight gaze:

'I got the chance to transfer here to Sin City of all places; I jumped at the chance to prove myself and get away from my roots to have my own life, without having everything that was attached to my family name.

Just I'll never forget the look of disappointment on my father's face Sara the day I left to come here. I let him down in everyway possible and that was the final insult to him, although even then I was still looking for his respect, something I would never get.'

He gave those dark eyes a look she returned the same one as though reading his mind, not commenting on what he had just said:

'You know the hardest part Sara; my last words to him were ill spoken. He phoned just after I became a CSI three told me he was proud, for me it was all too little to late.'

Looking at Sara realizing it was then that Sara had first walked into his life, just after his 100th case and his first run in with Kristy Hopkins and that phone call where he had said all the wrong things to a voice that he would never hear again, a frown came across his features:

'I did not realise I might have actually gained some of the respect I was looking for, I told my own father to go to hell that I did not care what he thought, I could not blame him for not phoning me after that one Sara.'

Another thought struck him now, he remembered his words back at the labs he had told Gill the exact same thing to go to hell and whether he liked it or not it was for the same reason. He wanted Grissom's respect in the same way he had looked for his fathers, there was an irony in that and his thought turned back to his father.

The Texan accent was becoming clearer now; the emotion even more so as those brown eyes seemed to no longer see her as Nick leapt to the present:

'The phone call came when I was getting this place ready'

The dark eyes sparkled at him as his voice cracked at the end of the statement:

'Nice apartment Nick'

She was trying to lighten him up but he ploughed on before his voice gave out:

'I only told Catherine out of necessity I was on annual leave anyway and all I felt was relief Sara to begin with and that feeling stayed with me in Dallas although my hate for him died at that point I just was not aware of it.'

There was a moment's hesitation before his next words:

'The only other thought that struck me then was that I no longer belonged there in Dallas, where I grew up why it hit me then when I stood over my father's grave I've no idea but it was all I felt at the time.'

The voice that had told her so much up until now stopped completely his hand withdrew from hers as Nick Stokes looked her direct in the eye, there was a look of loneliness and sadness in them and she was well aware he had said the same words back at the labs of not belonging the words that had brought her here more to the point.

'People end up dead because of me and had I not come to Las Vegas they would be alive today. Might have been better all round had I just stayed in Dallas Sara'

The brown eyes were of her now looking at the floor, where long shadows of the setting sun now left what little light there was. The strong features were hidden from her the head bowed; his current state was a million miles from the persona that usually surrounded him.

Yet she was well aware where those dark thoughts had arisen from Kristy Hopkins the hooker that had been murdered after that one night stand, had left a dent one that would never be repaired and she had seen his pain then, although he had tried his best to hide how much the impact of that hookers death had on him.

Grissom said he had brought it on himself maybe so but it was obvious he had cared for her deeply, enough to give her a funeral and the fact that he would have let Ecklie put him in jail for it. The only other thought on that line was that Kristy had by all accounts used him taking advantage of that innocence and with her death shattered it.

Then there was Nigel Crane that stalker and she was well aware how close a call that had been. Far too close and once more she had seen him struggle with emotions, fighting back hiding in his humour covering the pain and she was well aware they both had done irreparable damage to an already haunted soul and he blamed himself on all counts.

Without thinking her hand reached out for that square jaw, touching the stubble there. Her hand forcing the head round to face her gaze, the brown eyes were desolate to her and words did not seem enough to reach what lay there in that look:

'You're way too hard on yourself Nick Stokes do you not know that?'

The look she received was a blank one; his head shifted her hand dropped, as Nick changed the subject tensing up next to her his voice steady but angry:

'God I messed up Sara'

Nick's gaze no longer on her looking straight ahead the tone becoming bitter:

'I came back here acting as though nothing had happened. That I had had my week's vacation as normal and then Gill hands me the Wilkinson case, from the moment I laid eyes on that dead strangers body all I could see was my dead fathers care worn features and it shook me to the core, the grief hit me then.'

They shared a glance he lost himself in those dark eyes, not wanting to continue but forcing himself to:

'It was the kid Sara that was what really got to me though the hate in him, I seen myself there and that scared me. Went out my way to prove his innocence trying to wash my hands of my own guilt for I done just the same in my own way and that guilt turned to rage. Rage that burned into me hatred was what followed and I took it out on everyone and I guess you know the rest.'

They looked at each another for a moment not saying anything; those dark eyes were looking through him again:

'You had us all worried Nick'

He did not say anything to that ignoring Sara's gaze yet again, the tone now harsh:

'It hit me then all my father had been doing all along was protecting me, keeping an eye on me, trying to make up for that one time when he had not been there for me and look at what I gave him in return nothing.

You know Sara he died at his desk in his study of a heart attack, doing the work he had done all his life defending someone and his own son could not even speak to him. We were never close but I never hated him in the way I thought I did he was a good father and I did not see that till it was too late.'

There was nothing left to say, nothing that he had not told this independent woman that had come to him when he had least expected it. He sat in silence reflecting on his father and on the tangled mess that his life had become…

The last light stretched across the room, making the handsome features of the man that sat next to her seem far younger than his years, for a moment she had let that sombre silence descend letting him grieve.

Then her hand reached out first to the strands of short thick brown hair, her fingers putting back in place the few strands that lay out of place smoothing the hair down liking the feel of it through her fingers, she smiled at him looking deep into that innocent gaze.

His gaze stayed on her as her hand moved tracing the muscle of his arm to that strong hand of his lifting it she put her own hand that had been discarded earlier back in his and gave a gentle squeeze:

'Feel any better know you got all that out your system there partner?'

She smiled at him again the brown eyes sent her a glance:

'Are you sweet talking me Sara?' the tone soft she played along:

'Yea Nick I might just be'

She grinned at him and for the first time she seen the hint of that smile of his that had been away far too long:

'There I almost got you to smile there Stokes'

The brown eyes flashed at her embers of pain showing clearly in them as that smile of his finely came to the fore:

'Don't tease me'

The tone at last light enough to give her a chance to tell him something more as her own features became serious:

'Nick don't think for one moment that your father died not knowing how you really felt, you were his son and no matter what was said between you he would know so stop beating yourself up over that one ok?'

They shared a glance again he did not say anything the smile disappearing as quickly as it had come the brown eyes reflecting of her own. She had to hand it to him he was completely unaware of how much good lay within him and how much the Nicky Stokes that sat beside her now had overcome to be where he was today and she voiced it:

'Your strong Nick way stronger than you let any of us believe and I always thought there was more to you than you ever let on, wild card or not' she sent him a wicked smile at that:

'Nick you've been through a lot but you always fought back even with what happened to you in your childhood and I admire you for that.'

Sara's voice trailed of and there was something in the tone as though she were delving into her own past as she said those words of comfort to him.

The expression on Sara's features was now blank as he tried to figure out what was going on behind there, the dark eyes now full of that fire and thought all he wanted to do was reach out and touch those features of hers.

He was well aware that Sara did not look on him in that light. That he was seen only as her friend. That Grissom was the one that Sara turned to. Not letting that thought cloud him he asked the only thing he could:

'You ok Sara?'

There was no answer at first then the dark eyes flared as she gave him that full smile of hers and he felt his heart miss a beat as it always did when she gave him that look…

Her own thought turned inwards as she said those words to this man as the bad memories came spilling back to her of that bay not far from San Francisco and an all together different childhood compared to her colleagues. The only child, always having to fend for herself; a loner in some way's and always remained such more through choice than anything else.

Though she had been smart always a step in front of the game her early childhood and school years had never been happy ones; partly due to her eccentric parents and the fact nothing seemed to ever be on a big enough stage to suit her. Remaining in those years the odd one out in every way but it had never bothered her, always giving as good as she got.

It had not been until Harvard that her life finely got some sort of perspective and something to match up to her ideals, with that it had also brought some of the best years of her live. Although she wondered what one Nick Stokes would have made of her then, maybe overlooked her or maybe the other way round.

That she would have taken him for being what she had come to expect from those types that had the looks, the brawn but little else in the inside, just it was now patiently clear Nick was different, way different and had a lot more than any of those Harvard guys that she had dated during that time.

Once more her thoughts changed going further back again to the one thing that had impacted her life from the start violence it was something she had grown up with and it had come from one source the person she was meant to trust most in the world her own father. Who had a strange way of showing his love by lashing out at her and her mother whenever it suited him. She could not remember the first time he had hit her but she remembered crying after wards and then singing trying to forgive him for it.

That feeling had stayed with her for the father that she had both loved and hated in equal measure and relationships had always been hard for that same reason, violence was to be expected somehow. She hid in her work only trusting a close few like Gill, she did not socialise much and the fact it all went back to that time in someway had not escaped her.

'You ok Sara?'

The concerned voice bumped her back into the present as the brown eyes gave her a burning look wondering what she had been thinking, she smiled back at him:

'I'm fine Nick but are you going to be'

She arched her eyebrow at him this time receiving a smile as there gaze met again the brown eyes now there normal soft brown; as she seen his concern directed at her, no longer thinking about his own pain as his hand released from hers again. Then completely surprising her Nick reached out wrapping his arms round her in a bear hug.

Perplexed for a moment she took in his closeness enjoying the feel of that muscular form so close to hers and with that her own arms wrapped around his neck feeling his tense shoulder muscles relax under her touch.

Clinging to him she burrowed deeper into his shoulder blade, close enough now to hear the constant sure rhythm of his heart under the slightly crumpled shirt. That like her own was beating a little too fast something registered within her and hearing that heartbeat so close made the feeling grow all the stronger…

… Something stirred deep within, for the first time although it had always been there; however it was right at this instant it sank into her heart what that was, she felt safe lying there in his arms, protected even and something more and it belonged only to Nick.

To go along with that charm, that smile and that heart of his and any time she had gave herself long enough to gaze deep into those intense soft brown eyes all that shone there was his soul, which could do her no wrong for what came lay there was loyalty, humanity and compassion that were all so much part of him and always had been..

That in itself almost threatened to overwhelm her for there was love along with that, a love that was there in there friendship a love that she had been blind to and she realised that deep down some part of her had always wanted what was happening now, wanting that love to become more and with that the man whose arms she lay in spoke…

'I'll survive Sara and I'm glad you came even though I wish it had been under better circumstances after what I said back at the labs'

There was nothing else said but it was enough his tone gentle his heartbeat was now slow and without needing to look into those eyes she was aware that the man who she still had her arms carefully wrapped around was calm, her reply was equally gentle:

'Hey that's what friends are for Nick'

Realizing as she spoke those words that the man that she had always taken as a friend had in some way's always meant more and that the friendship was no longer enough to satisfy this feeling. That was flooding through her as she grinned at the handsome features and that intense gaze as she pulled out the cuddle, giving the shirt a meaningful glare as she did so:

'You really need to change that shirt Nick'

Giving him a sly smile her hand reached out for his all too square jaw:

'A shave would not go to bad either' the brown eyes sent her a hurt gaze:

'Just as long as you don't mention lemons'

Digging him in the ribs at that comment at what had remained an in joke between them ever since the zipper bag case, his athletic form rose from the couch sending her that smile:

'Alright Sidle I get the hint I'll go shower and shave'

Nick sent her a glance the brown eyes shining:

'Want to join me?'

The tone playful she smiled at that serious look. The Nick Stokes she knew fine and well was back and although she could still see in the eyes that time was going to be the biggest healer and that he was going to have a lot to face at the labs the old fight was back in those brown soft eyes she played along not giving away what was going on in her heart although despite herself she felt herself blush under that gaze:

'Who's teasing who here, get out of my sight Stokes'

He grinned at her and done just that, as Nick moved away going to his left to the doors that she had seen when she had come in.

For a moment she sat there contemplating, then her gaze drifted to the window and the mountains away in the distance, the view itself drew her to the window. The room was in a half light as she looked out at that stunning backdrop of the city lights and then out beyond them to the first star in the evening sky. Her gaze followed from there to those mountains and the horizon where the sky was an aurora of colour; going from dark blue to purple and then to a red glow from where the sun had already set.

A smile came to her face as her conscious thoughts ran with her unconscious ones, she felt in her heart that this man would love her with all his heart and soul and a little more;

That there had always been something about him, ladies man or not, she was well aware that what had happened in his childhood had as much to do with that revolving door reputation he had with women as anything else.

Just it was what lay under that which made him all the more unique for she seen the man that Nick so wanted to be and already was that part of her had always loved the one that had cried out in pain back at the labs and had brought her here and along with those handsome all American good looks there was a heart that would never fail and that had always loved her.

Something pulled at her as she thought of that and the old habit kicked in she started to sing slowly at first just enjoying the moment; eventually one old song so old yet precious to her sprang into her head it echoed round the room as she stood waiting there in the last light waiting on the man that had touched her heart and soul and would later touch it in so many other ways to return….

* * *

Gill Grissom stood where the victim had stood, a victim who like all victims had been an innocent. An innocent about to hit the prime years of his life that fact had not escaped him; as he stood now at the door looking out onto the empty hall.

His gaze fell to the carpet at his foot, blood lay spattered here and out with what lay behind him this was the only other clue to what had happened plus going by all that lay before him now they were by all accounts searching for a body, the victim dead and this was where it had all began…

The first blow had been given here; experience and science were telling him things as he looked at the blood at his foot. First that the victim had known the attacker, for the weapon had been no gun.

The weapon would have more than likely have been something sharp or claw like as he looked at the spray of blood, that the victim who stood where he stood now would have had little chance.

That blow would more than likely have been to the frontal lobe a direct blow to the side of the head; enough to cause damage, enough to concuss, enough to cause pain and enough to render the victim powerless.

With that he touched his forehead; he had a migraine which was in its self a bad omen. He turned around but did not look directly ahead, at the other people that were also in this room, who were investigating the scene before him.

Instead his gaze fell on the rucksack that lay of to his left and then to the kitchen counter and what lay on it, it was all so normal. For there lay something familiar to his eyes a fawn jerkin jacket was there, beside it sat a mobile phone they lay where the victim had left them. He had checked both, the mobile phone had been switched off and in the jacket he found what he had expected a wallet.

Beside them sat the leaflets about the very thing the victim had been doing on this fatal day that had brought Catherine Willows for what should have been an insignificant meeting between friends that had ended up being anything but. The leaflets for her daughter Lindsey Willow's about paragliding for a school project, if he wanted any further clues to the heart of victim that told him more than enough…

The TV had been switched on normality again but it also told him as he looked again at that jacket that the attack on the victim had happened not long after his arrival back from where he had been that morning. This meant it had happened long before Catherine had arrived at this scene but he was well aware that would not help how the red head felt.

From all that lay before him now on the face it this was a hit, a well timed, well executed precise hit and what little he was sending Greg Sanders way would only give clues to the fate of the victim not the suspect, if there was a suspect to be had, for there was no clear motive. The place was clean and if he did not know any better.

It was as though who ever were responsible for this had been well aware that it would be him, Gill Grissom that would be the one called to investigate for there were no fingerprints, no fibres, no hairs and no witnesses nothing for him to go on, no evidence and for once science was not enough to give him the answers to questions that were only beginning to form in his head…

Once more he looked at the blood that now lay to his right foot and then to that all to horrifying image in front of him, he estimated the distance. The victim had been thrown hard from where he stood now. He shut his eyes for a moment thinking of that phone call he had personally made to the victims family in Dallas, it had been his first phone call it would not be his last…

He opened his eyes now looking at the people around him, who cast long dark shadows in this now crime scene he was looking at one in particular the brunette who stood apart, who stood at the window her back to him, his colleague and the only one of them to see the victim on this day and like Catherine was blaming herself for not being here for him.

For Sara was the only one of them to see Nick Stokes in this very room on this darkest of days, with that his gaze moved to what lay on the carpet in the dried blood, that one thing made it all the more real and all the more sinister.

He stepped forward and came to a stop beside the partly shattered coffee table he did not move from there. As something unfamiliar overcame him; what up until now he had managed to shut out but no longer could, feelings unaccustomed to him and the fact this was no ordinary victim, he knew this person, this innocent and for the first time in his life he felt powerless….

* * *

Nicky Stokes stood where Gill Grissom would one day stand, by the coffee table his gaze on the brunette that stood looking out the window her back to him looking out at Las Vegas which was shining in all its glory in the early evening; with the mountains in the distance, he could also see the red glow of the horizon the last light of it, still filled this room.

However his gaze was firmly set on Sara who stood looking out at that view; her trim figure illuminated in that light, made even more visible by the white top and jeans showing her every curve and even as she stood now, the stance showed the spirit that was so much part of her.

Just right at this moment he was rooted to the spot, his heart ached as it always did when she sang and the song she was singing now was making it ache all the more, it was a complete departure from anything he had heard Sara sing before but it was a song so familiar a timeless song, yet it had never sounded so sweet as it did now as her gentle voice echoed round the room:

'This land is your land,

This land is my land'

Her voice rose and his heart swelled as Sara continued, remembering the one time he had told her about that singing voice of hers, it had been the closest he had ever got to telling Sara the truth:

'From California

To the New York Island,

From the redwood forest,

To the Gulf stream waters,

This land was made for you and me'

He closed his eyes, there had always been something about Sara a familiarity even, something that simply drew him; in much the same way that he was drawn to the vast cosmos of stars in the evening sky, it had been there that feeling when they had first met when Sara had called him Nicholas and he insisted that she just call him Nick. She had flirted with him then, as Grissom stood beside him on that case where he missed the roof dust.

Although even then he noticed the closeness that Gill Grissom shared with Sara Sidle before he had stepped out from the crowd to be introduced to the new CSI that had come San Francisco; it annoyed him even then, for it was a relationship he could not fathom and with time the person he had truly come to feel sorry for was Catherine.

His thoughts turned again to Sara a brunette and he had always had something for brunette's just Sara was altogether different, in every way possible it was not just in her looks; there was something in those dark intelligent eyes that had always made his heart beat a little faster…

The sometimes outspoken comments that could be hurtled from out of no where at you, he liked that flare about her combined with that she had an energy and curiosity that came through in everything she did, most notably her work, where like Grissom she seemed to hide in it for some reason. Not that he had not told her often enough about that one. That she needed to get out more deserved to get out more all he would get was that smile of hers in return.

Yet there was more and it made his heart ache for Sara was fragile he had noted it time and again and whether that fragility had arisen was from her past that he suspected had something to do with it although not all to do with it. It was there and it was part of Sara as much as that spirit and fire of hers that were so defining.

It was that which drew him to her; that in someway it was as though Sara might fall apart in someway if she ever let up or let anyone get to close and all that some part of him had always wanted was simply to take Sara into his arms and protect her from this cruel world and all that went with it.

Added to that Sara was strong in a way that he never could be and he liked the way when they were working together, she would occasionally touch his shoulder or arm, there was something in that contact that felt good, as though it were something more….

However it was when they flirted which was practically all the time; like two love sick teenagers that could not get enough of each other, that he felt it most a love like nothing he had experienced before lay there and had always been there and he was powerless against it.

Just Sara did not see him in that way but there was something a chemistry that only belonged when with her and it burned into him the continues flirting made it all the harder. Plus in someway he felt Sara always kept him at a safe distance at arms length, he respected that but could not understand her reasons.

As though she were frightened from him in someway although he had done no wrong it hurt more than anything. More than it should have if it were a mere friendship. Sara had become a constant to him one that he could no longer live without, yet she remained forever out his grasp, like those stars above….

That she already belonged to another in some fashion and he could not compete with that but it did not change the way he felt. For he was falling in a way that had never happened before, it all began and ended with Sara, he was bound to her in every way possible….

Sara could take all of him; could break his heart into a million pieces for all he cared for what he felt for her was beyond words, beyond anything he had felt for the countless number he had dated and he was aware that whatever it was that lay between them if given the chance would last a live time for Sara brought out the best in him always had, a spirit that touched his soul and made him yearn for her all the more…

There was nothing else to find; nothing else to loose, nothing in the world would change his mind over how he felt for this woman and he would be forever hanging by a moment with Sara….

His thoughts drifted of at that opening his eyes as those last few verses echoed round the room, he drew forward at last to come and stand beside Sara by the window, looking out over the sprawling city below, his gaze fell on those dark eyes but nothing was said as they just stood there for a moment, not saying anything.

She looked at his profile as Nick came up to stand beside her the handsome features etched in the evening light, the gray shirt changed to a dark blue that set of those brown soft eyes, the top two buttons undone showed his tanned muscular chest, she sent him a smile, he sent one back which turned into a lop-sided grin, she could see he was about to speak but she beat him to it:

'Trying to impress me Nicky?'

The brown eyes gave her a look his gaze all too serious to go with it, it was also the first time she had called him that and by the expression on his face he had not missed that fact either his soft rich Texan accent filled the room:

'No but you did impress me with your singing Sara'

Grinning but not saying anything more Nick turned to face her, the last light was fading fast as a braid of her hair came forward…

His hand reached out for that wisp of hair that had fallen forward onto Sara's face; his fingers gently pushed it back into place behind her ear; his hand stayed where it was, the contact itself sent a surge through him as he caressed her cheek, for a moment longer than he should have, as those dark eyes sent him a look one that he could not quite fathom that had not been there before but it swept him away…

The touch gentle it was a moment of shear intimacy one she would never forget or regret as his finger traced the line of her cheek bone, her pulse raced as she felt Nick withdrawing and with that her own hand came up stopping his from falling, they shared a look.

She smiled at him as slowly the realization crossed into those handsome features and that all too intense gaze where the brown intense pools, revealed there depths and all that shone that shone there was love in its purest form, as her own gaze got lost there…

Nothing was said as they continued to gaze into each others eyes and then Nick drew her into his arms, in one gentle movement, it felt natural and intense. His warm touch as his hands went round her slim waist, her heart lurched at the closeness of that body so near hers as those brown eyes sent a gaze so intense it almost hurt…

Then ever so gently, almost surprising her Nick leaned in and kissed her, a kiss that held passion like no other, it engulfed her as she melted into it, her own hand coming up to the buttons of his shirt, first slowly and then quickly she undone the buttons to reveal that muscular tanned chest below…

Her fingers ran slowly over that chest liking the feel of that slightly rough skin, as the hands which were wrapped round her waist slowly reached below her top, his warm touch flooding through her; as his fingers ran up her back playing for a moment with her bra straps then for a second coming to rest on the bra clip before returning back down to her waist; bringing her own body closer to his at that moment, they found a new intimacy one that was unstoppable.

Then unexplainably Nick drew away from her, the instinct that had taken over stopped as the kiss ended and his all too serious gaze fell back on her:

'What is it between you and Gil?'

The tone was deadly serious as she lay there protectively in his arms; the brown eyes searched her as she smiled at the boyish look that was across those all too handsome features:

'Not what you were thinking Nick it's not this'

She smiled at him her tone gently emphasizing the point.

There gaze met and at that she ran her fingers through that soft short hair playing with it; then along his jaw line, and then lastly to his bare chest which rippled ever so slightly under her touch, feeling his sure strong heartbeat under the palm of her hand which lay for a moment on his bare chest, then her hand moved again tracing that physic as she waited…

Taking full advantage of the moment as Nick considered her statement as she just lay there in his arms in a way she had never done before, then those brown eyes reflected of her own again a smile coming across his features.

The signal given she looked once into those soft brown eyes and kissed him full on the lips; it was even more intense than the first as Nick responded, bringing her closer than before; the closeness and passion of that kiss flooded through every atom of her body…

How long it lasted she was not sure but tenderly they withdrew from each other, as the hand that was round her waist came up and linked with hers as ever so gently Nick disengaged himself completely from her the withdrawal itself left yearning as they stood in the semi darkness.

Neither looking out to see the last light of day faded from the horizon leaving the land and mountains reflecting only moonlight, as day finely turned completely over to night…

For a moment they just stood there hand in hand, the gaze in those dark eyes sent him to the stars; the love there was beyond measure as slowly he led Sara away from the window past the coffee table, neither questioning what was coming next as he opened the door for her into the other room letting Sara walk in before him…

Once more he wrapped his arms round her slender form drawing Sara close into him before Sara could turn embracing her as he did so, his fingers glided over the shoulder length brunette hair shifting it back ever so gently he kissed the nape of her neck, the body next to his trembled as he did so, Sara coming out the embrace turned at last to face him...

In that moment they found each other, instinct taking over completely as the love between them personified itself to become something more…

Once more they kissed long deep and hard as Nick nudged her closer to the bed, discarding what clothing there was they took each other in and then Nick took her into his arms kissing again, lightly she rolled her weight onto him, feeling the leanness and hardness of that body against hers as Nick drew in a sharp breath, once more feeling that slightly rough skin so different from as her fingers traced his back; her own body responded to his giving in to the pleasure coursing through her…

As Nick now kissed her neck, shoulder blade and then lower still; a low moan exhaled from her trembling again at the tenderness of his touch upon her body. It was like no other. Love and affection that she had seen directed else where before was now solely directed at her, the intensity of that in itself was overpowering the love overwhelming as those brown eyes looked once more into hers…

As his hands caressed her every curve; sending gentle tremors through her body, finding an altogether new intimacy between them that was unstoppable as they became one flesh…

The sleeping form next to his moved slightly the weight easy on him as Sara lay close. That long arm gracefully stretched across his chest even in sleep; her head lay at his shoulder the brunette hair spreading across the pillow, the creamy skin illuminated in the light, the scent of her and those dark eyes that would forever draw him now lay closed to him in sleep.

Sara even in sleep mesmerized him; and the feeling of that heart beat so close to his was beyond anything; he would never tire of Sara in anyway sighing contentedly his gaze shifted past Sara to the clock realizing with some clarity that this sweet surrender that he had found himself in was not going to last much longer and that for the second night running he was going to be late for his work…

* * *

Gill Grissom looked at the clock – impatiently.

There was still no sign of Nick. Warrick and Catherine sat silently also waiting and although there was no Sara, he was well aware she could take care of herself.

Nick on the other hand had walked out on them. Plus no matter what had been said, he was aware that Nick Stokes was no quitter his gaze fell back on the clock, he was counting on that fact, expecting the CSI to be back tonight.

His gaze met Catherine's. Sara no longer hung between them with the question that Nick had asked Sara which had also been directed at him; he had somehow expected to come from Catherine long before this.

Instead it had come from Nick. Who turned to Catherine in much the same way Sara turned to him. They were two sides of the same coin and they depended on each other as day relied on night …

Making it a deeper irony that although Nick had been right in his observations that there was something between himself and Sara. The CSI had still none the less wrong in his assumptions and it had been at that point. When he had reached boiling point with the CSI three who had went way over the line that Catherine had intervened mentioning Dallas shielding Nick from his anger and completely changing perspectives hitting the CSI three hard as she did so.

Nick in the end taking the only other alternative route left walking out on them, leaving them still reeling and Catherine the person Nick confided in to fill them in on what the hell was wrong with the person seen most often as the level headed peacekeeper of the team.

He had listened only in silence as Catherine informed them of what had happened during that time off which had not panned out in the way the CSI three had intended, with his father's death which had been in many ways the final blow to a CSI that had been pushed to the limit emotionally.

The hooker that had pulled the wool over his eyes for starters had left the sensitive CSI withdrawn and subdued, with Ecklie who had a field day on that case baring a further grudge against Nick. Kristy Hopkins in the end not only damaging his career but emotionally scaring him along with it; though Nick had given no clues he suspected the woman had been less after that.

Then there was Nigel Crane and though he had not taken his live had done the next best thing with there being a shadow across the CSI three ever since that, one that they had all seen and worried over the CSI three eventually picking up on that fact.

With Nick like Sara burying himself in his work to much so and it had only been recently when Nick had been telling them of his new apartment. That the shadow which had hung over him had finely receded and it was apparent that he had been looking forward to the time off that had been long overdue.

Where he had then ended up returning to Dallas and though he should have been made aware of what had happened Nick had only informed Catherine someone he trusted wanting to deal with it in his own way, not wanting it to go any further which he guessed was in someway linked back to those previous events when everyone had been well aware what had he had been going through and Nick was not one for pity…

Just as his boss he had missed the signs that something was wrong on the CSI three's return; when Nick had walked in late for that first shift, hardly speaking to any of them bar Catherine and when he had asked about that time off, Nick had even then given him that look which by the end of the shift he would get ten fold.

Which in the end brought him to that case; where they had all watched with growing unease the change in the CSI three and although he had seen colleagues burn up time and again over cases, Nick had taken it to an all new level in terms of will and determination…

Even when the evidence had been all out against him and although he should have taken Nick of that case that the CSI three was getting way to close in the end his own judgment told him not to, that it would be the wrong thing to do no matter how wound up Nick had been, insulting him would have been worse when it was apparent the CSI three was aware of what he was doing and that he now knew in his eyes anyway that Nick had been in some sort of denial over his father's death.

Instead he had went for the direct approach forcing the issue; trying to get the CSI three to see sense it had only further angered Nick pushing him too far, with there being no reasoning with him and it had been then that all hell had broke loose.

The CSI quite literally falling apart on them, Nick then doing the only other thing possible walking out and he could not do a dam thing about it, that Nick would have went anyway, unwilling to talk and Gill was well aware that Nick would still feel the same way now on that one. However Nick had left and livid though he had been at him it was something he could not let happen again…

Gill looked at the clock again it was quarter after ten and if Nick was to appear it would be now or not at all. As if running in line with his thoughts, his two missing colleagues appeared both Catherine and Warrick were now shifting him a look of relief.

Sara with Nick; and though he had specifically told them to leave things be, to let Nick calm down that he would be back tonight without fail, it appeared as though Sara had thought otherwise even after all that had been said and for some reason it neither surprised nor annoyed him that she had done so.

With that he looked over to the serious set features of Nick Stokes the demeanor that had surrounded him before was thankfully broken, the brown eyes no longer dark the hatred gone from them as they now looked each other in the eye.

Sara still standing beside Nick quickly departed from her colleague leaving Nick to face him and had he been looking a little closer at the body language then he would have seen for himself there was something more between them; something that he would find out about as much by shear accident than anything else as his gaze fell back on Nick his main concern at the current moment:

'Nick my office now and don't be late again' his tone firm but casual.

Nick's gaze fell on him again not altogether sure how to take what he had just said; turning now to Catherine who was sending him a look to go easy on the CSI three, missing as he did so the younger man's features pale next to him as he spoke formally:

'Catherine you take Sara and Warrick on that kidnapping case'

All four of his colleagues had got the message Nick staying put, Catherine nodding to Sara and Warrick that it was business as usual as they filed out leaving them in silence.

They glared at each other for a moment before starting to walk, the younger man keeping a pace behind him only looking downwards as they at last reached the office.

Nick yet to speak for once not commenting on all the things that bombarded this office something that usually did merit a comment from him as the CSI three lifted his head to meet his gaze still nothing was said the silence increasing in magnitude as his own words drifted across to the CSI three:

'Nick'

The brown eyes stayed on him:

'Grissom'

The tone was flat and polite as they leveled up Nick still managing to match his gaze:

'There is a lot we need to sort out Nick' his own tone measured watching the response of the younger man, who nodded in answer to him:

'I also have a case that needs investigating are you up for it?'

The CSI three sent him a puzzled gaze for a moment expecting something further to be said, Nick shrugging his shoulders in response deciding not to say anything:

'Well are you?'

His own tone darkening a look of fear crossed the CSI three features realizing that he had better start answering:

'I guess so'

Nick's curt reply dodging his gaze as he did so:

'Right well we're already late and you left us in the dark Nick and one way or the other your going to talk this over are we clear on that.'

The serious gaze of his younger colleague now back on him realizing that his own tone was even harsher than he had whole heartedly meant it to be; as Nick flinched under his words the brown soft eyes remaining on him and before the CSI three could get a chance to say something his voice cut in again his tone softer than before knowing what Nick was probably thinking:

'So as I can keep an eye on you Nick'

* * *

…Those words resounded back at him now in an all new intensity, as he stood in this darkened apartment with his three remaining colleagues, the place eerily quite as he stood over the blood lined coffee table.

The other team had left; Ecklie's team more to the point, though there had been no Ecklie. He should have read more into that. They had come sent by Brass who had insisted on it when his own team was one man down and he would not have stopped them anyway, which in its own way told him how much that CSI three meant to those that he had worked with.

They had descended over this apartment like vultures; nothing had been left unturned or photographed but all that was to be found had been what himself and Warrick had gathered and what they all sought the one thing that made this a missing person's case this bloody mess had no body to go with it taken for some greater purpose…

His gaze drifted to the cracked broken coffee table the blood on it, the glass below it and that one thing which was left, a timeline in every essence of the word. As his gaze shifted to the bloodied fingerprint's that you could just see on the underside of coffee table at the corner the fingerprints that Warrick had noted, they belonged to one person, his colleague and it told him one thing he had been alive…

With that he went to lift the watch the one thing that no one had touched; left more by accident and bad luck than anything else a cruel gift sent to tease him as his fingers stretched out and the image in front of him changed he was no longer in a darkened apartment, his three colleagues who stood not far from him were now gone…

…_Instead the room was flooded in bright sunlight behind him he could hear the TV and directly across from him at the other side of the coffee table next to the sofa lay a vulnerable form, who was leaning onto the side of that coffee table for support, he could hear the shallow irregular breathing from here and he could see the white of the knuckle of the hand which was gripping onto the corner of the coffee table…._

_The hand now moved no longer able to hold on and Gill seen the blood trickling freely from the slit wrist onto the glass; which had been broken under his weight, from the force of that blow that had sent his colleague to where he now was, the watch still on the wrist hung loosely falling to the floor with that movement, landing in among the shards of glass below the coffee table blood on the black strap, only a few millimeters from his own fingers…_

_Gill did not move his finger stayed there as he looked at the prone figure across from him, the gash on the side of the head the blood that was running down the side of that handsome face from it, some blood matted in the brown hair the rest of the blood starting to drip onto the carpet, brown glazed eyes that were not quite seeing were now looking in his direction as though he had been aware of that watch falling but unable to do anything about it._

_The breathing was becoming more labored as Gill placed his fingers on the watch and those brown eyes looked directly into his as though seeing him, brown eyes that were looking at him in nine kinds of pain and he could do nothing…._

_It sunk like a knife deep into him that look; for something registered within at that moment, something that would become clearer with the days and years that followed and would be compounded in the one other small part of him that was left that lay yet unknown to them…_

_He seen a son; a son that he treated as he would have a blood son, never giving him any credit when credit was dew nor the respect that should have been given, coming down on him hard any time he made an error and though he had a lot to learn Nick had shown potential._

_Something different from the natural talent of Warrick's and whether it came from that humanity, innocence and shear determination it was none the less unmatchable in its own right and in the end that was why he had always been pushing him so dam hard…_

…_never letting him fly solo very often either in his own way trying to protect him what Nick had probably more often than not seen as a kick in the teeth only frustrating him, from a boss that overlooked him completely…_

_Only now could he admit that when it was too late, that the Texan who had been loyal when he had given him more reason than most not to be was somehow a son to him and it hit hard…_

…_as those brown eyes shifted of him, that had never really seen him in the first place and was completely unaware of how he felt as that gaze fell to the watch that his fingers now lay on …_

_The breathing was becoming more irregular and shallower as his colleague's gaze shifted again to the door his followed, as the figure across from him tensed up knowing what coming as a shadow crossed over; Gill closed his eyes ignoring the sound of that second fatal blow he opened his eyes again the image had only slightly changed._

_Someone was watching his colleague bleed, the blood now running faster from the slumped form across from him as the shadow drew nearer again, it was to much not wanting to go there, for he was well aware that's where the blood trail ended and to see any further would be committing that that live was already gone, he lifted the watch and the name slid out without thinking:_

'Nicky'

* * *

The apartment changed back with that and for the first time no one answered to that name as he drew a deep breath, looking at the dried blood all to aware that what he had not wanted to see had none the less happened and nothing was left, the victim had been removed without incident and without being seen, a perfect crime….

Something inside him caved feeling loss at that thought for this was a crime scene like no other it had touched each of them to the core as his gaze looked at his remaining colleagues…

His eyes resting for a moment on Sara and then to Catherine drawing strength from her gaze knowing the support they were all needing from him and it was apparent at this moment; the team that had been was now gone with that one colleague and that live that bound all that stood in this apartment was by all accounts dead the blood not telling him otherwise, yet there was no body and that was his only hope….

As he looked again at the watch that now lay in his hand that was telling him he was running out of time if he was ever to find Nick Stokes alive…

TO BE CONTINUED


	3. Free Falling

Hanging by a Moment

- Free Falling

Chapter Three

Author: Jen

Author's Note:

Anyway I've tried where possible to get rid of the confusion though it's still got some way to go before everyone including the writer has the whole picture! Hopefully there is enough here to keep you interested mean time.

Ok enough from me MAJOR ANGSH done in flashback, I have once more only borrowed the characters, please read & enjoy as ever it's the relationships between our main characters that is really the issue. I also covered Sara getting moved from CSI two to three and though Nick did sort of go out at end of last chapter I had a lot to cover with him still in it so this chapter is shared between all characters Nick/Sara/Grissom/Catherine/Warrick & Greg who finely got in & this chapter starts with scene at end of last chapter just from other characters point of view!

Alright way big intro & whether anyone else gets this remains to be seen but there is something in here & I'm no where near done yet!

* * *

The hand linked in his added slight pressure for a second his brown eyes closed; his heart beating a little faster as that smaller hand now gently released from his. They were almost there as his gaze took in the women walking by his side.

It was at that moment Sara Sidle's dark starlight eyes lifted love shone in them. It left him free falling. As they came to a stop; the last few yards reached the dark eyes looked once more into his. No words were need spoken between them in that moment.

Before they walked forward entering the room together Sara staying close beside him for a moment more before leaving his side her touch gone. With Sara moving of to her left to where Catherine and Warrick stood; leaving him to face the man who stood directly across from him, who was now looking him direct in the eye:

'Nick my office now and don't be late again'

He swallowed his gaze coming back fully onto Gil Grissom's; uncertainty overtook him in that moment, the colour draining from his face with Grissom now addressing all of them:

'Catherine you take Sara and Warrick on that kidnapping case'

The tone was familiar enough the edge that went along with it though was not; he did not move his colleagues filed out, Sara the last. The only sound left was silence as he looked again at his boss.

Who glared at him before starting to walk; his head bowed he followed keeping his gaze on the tiled floor of the corridor. He still did not look up as they reached the office taking the seat across from Grissom. He waited.

His brown eyes looking only at the desk in front of him; the silence was deafening his gaze lifted to at last look at the man who sat across from him at that desk. He still did not speak the tension in the air grew. His boss who was now looking him again direct in the eye broke the silence:

'Nick'

There gaze remained level; he addressed his boss:

'Grissom'

There was a pause he did not fill it; Gil's voice struck out again:

'There is a lot we need to sort out Nick'

Nodding in answer; he tensed up still not saying anything as Gil once more glared at him:

'I also have a case that needs investigating are you up for it?'

The words took him off guard; finding him self once more unsure of how to take his boss he waited a moment in puzzlement, expecting something further to come but Grissom remained silent.

Keeping his mouth shut; he shrugged his shoulders in response to the question just asked the chiselled features of his supervisor darkened the tone deadly:

'Well are you?'

For a moment fear clutched at him; Gil continued to look his way, he was going to need to start answering him. Diverting his gaze he replied:

'I guess so'

The words had no more than died from his lips as Grissom's voice cut back across to him:

'Right well we're already late and you left us in the dark Nick and one way or the other your going to talk this over are we clear on that.'

The tone left no room for argument; he flinched under the words and the look Gil was currently giving him. Heightened by the fact he now had a case and it would be Grissom that would be overseeing him, feeling dread at that thought he went to speak his boss once more beating him to it the message clear with his words:

'So as I can keep an eye on you Nick'

There gaze locked for a moment; the sharp edge now gone from Grissom's tone as he bowed his head looking again at the desk before slowly bringing his gaze back up nodding once more in answer.

Gil looking him again in the eye; pushed a case file across in front of him. He read it trying to get his CSI mind in gear with little success, Grissom reading his very thoughts spoke the tone informal:

'Do the overview Nicky and we'll take it from their'

It was a statement carrying more weight than the words which had just been said, acknowledging at the same time what was being asked of him; and he was going to need to talk. With Gil leaving him no option on that; something which was hard at the best of times…

From a boss who more often than not at times barely acknowledged his existence; and the underlying fact he had not only kept them in the dark. He had defied Grissom outright in front of the whole team, going way over the line in everyway possible along with it before walking out something which at no time Gil Grissom would take lightly….

His gaze at that came back onto his boss for a moment; before shifting to take in everything that swamped this office. Letting his gaze wander; he tried to impress a grin which still managed to materialise. Grissom picking up on it gave him a glance the words came without thinking as he commented over the small office and all its antiquities:

'You got room in here for anything else Grissom?'

Giving Gil a serious look his boss replied the tone softer than before:

'Loads Nick'

The tension in the air melted; his boss continued to look his way. Unsure of what to say next his gaze buckled. Looking to the case file instead for a moment; his thoughts drifting to Sara and then from her to his late father and with that he looked again at Grissom. Who was now looking at him impatiently there also was what looked like concern; in that gaze as well he ignored it as Gil got to the work at hand:

'I think we've kept Brass waiting long enough Nick'

There gaze met and held nothing was said though; as Grissom stood up he followed suit this time falling into step with him as they stepped out into the corridor, trying to gather his thoughts at the same time.

Aware that he would be the one from now on doing the talking; and that he owed Gil an explanation, which was an understatement. It was what he was going to need in some context to tell him over and above and the fact it was Grissom…..

With that he looked again at Gil with mixed feelings; as his brown eyes shifted looking past Grissom to the room they were passing it was the room they had left earlier and that he had walked into with Sara…..

* * *

It was that same room he was in now these months later the sun sharply reflecting of the table in front of him; just it was the end of the shift. A very different shift from what that one had been…

Where Grissom had overseen him every step of the way on that case they had worked on; with them in some respects managing to talk things through. Over the Wilkinson case; and the fact he had walked out. Something which among other things Gil had not forgot about in a hurry…..

With Grissom being the way he always was; and maybe for that reason alone there had been a lot he had not elaborated on when Gil had asked about his father. It had remained unsaid; his boss also picking up on it that there had been more to it than what he had told him.

He had left it be though; acknowledging that if he had wanted to tell him he would have. Plus the fact he had not told Gil in the first place over what had happened in his time off. Something which his boss had made crystal clear was not to happen again no matter what the circumstances and the full force of Grissom's anger which he had all out expected had not come with them in one way or other sorting things out….

…….It had taken time though as his thoughts trailed off slowly coming back to the present as he lifted the steaming cup off coffee from the table in front of him; his gaze coming to rest on the woman who was sitting not far from him on his right his thoughts changing completely at that moment.

Listening in at the same time to Sara and Gil's conversation they were talking about that 100th case of Sara's. There voices sure and quite going over the relevant data they sat at the formal table in this room - this all important place.

The place which was as much a home as it was his work environment with its files, books, coffee machine, microwave and fridge which he could hear the constant drone off; plus that table where all the important decisions were made all evidence talked over and all options off where to go next in any major case were put forward.

It was also where they met as one; as a team one colleague always pointing something out to the other and where his boss Gil Grissom more importantly had the final say.

There also had been many heated arguments over there where his two colleagues now sat, just this common room was not only a serious place it had its lighter moments as well as it was now when they were ending the shift.

He finished his coffee sitting the cup down on the small table; Catherine sat across from him they were situated to the left of the main area in the less formal part the red head to busy with her own work to notice his gaze on her. With that his gaze shifted back to where it had been to Sara….

Sending a smile her way the dark eyes looked into his for a moment there gaze held before slowly parting. As he looked again around him remembering the moments that had all shared here one specifically sprang to mind Lindsey Willows birthday and Catherine's reaction.

He smiled also making a mental note of the paragliding leaflets he was to get tomorrow for Lindsey and the fact that both him self and Sara had the night off his gaze fell back on Sara again at that thought….

The dark eyes came up to meet his again Sara now sending him a full smile, Gil now also turning to look his way not saying anything. With that his gaze once more drifted past them letting them continue; turning again to Catherine who was still looking at a file and then beyond her to the windows that looked out onto the currently busy corridor.

Every few seconds at least one person walked past some going onto start their shift others like what he was just about to be finishing there's and heading for the lockers. He watched seeing live flicker past people going about there duty in this all too busy hectic work place. Someone waved at him on the way past the person slowing down a little looking in on them.

It was Greg his mobile phone in hand; the young lab technician also at the end of his shift and by the look on his face was definitely thinking about other things probably a hot date.

He waved back at the lab technician who smirked giving one last glance his way as Greg moved on down the corridor his pace quickening with no one else apparently having seen the exchange between them.

A smile came to his features; remembering the day when Greg had found him and Sara in the locker rooms. The look on Greg's face with the lab technician being the one to find out first although it had only been a matter off moments after that when someone else also found out…

With that his thoughts shifted again his gaze falling back on looking at the now quieter corridor seeing someone else approach the person was coming in here to join them his pace slowing to enter the room.

It was Warrick and he had been waiting on him his hand gripping the American football which lay on the table, next to the case folder that they both had been working on taking his best aim he sent it hurtling towards his competitor:

'You owe me one big time Warrick'

With ease Warrick caught the football before Nick's aim had the diverse effect and ended up hitting something that it should not have, he grinned at his competitor knowing that the Texan was in all round good mood for breaking the case they had been working on and Nick was rubbing it in as usual as he threw the ball back Catherine looking up at the commotion they were now causing:

'In your dreams Nick'

The Texan once more grinned at him spinning the ball that had been thrown back at him the tone innocent:

'Come on Warrick don't be like that man just because I got it right for once'

Warrick rolled his eyes still not saying anything watching his competitor at play with Catherine watching in amusement the actions of the man across from her Nick spinning the American football with an element of skill waiting on his answer:

'This is your night of Nick'

Nick turned his head nodding in answer his attention no longer on what he had been doing the American football now coming to a swift stop being placed on the table; Sara heading over to Nick grinning at him on the way past.

He quickly replied fully to his competitor:

'Tomorrow night Nick I'll be the one to take the suspect down ok'

They glared at each other Nick sending him a meaningful look the Texan tone light:

'Maybe'

Warrick turned his head Gil had been listening in on them by the look on his face as he now turned back to Nick replying to that:

'No maybe about Nick'

There was no answer the only person that seemed to have heard his reply was Catherine; who rolled her eyes at him Nick's attention now definitely elsewhere and by all accounts oblivious to him the CSI three deep in conversation with Sara.

Who now sat beside the Texan he smiled watching the pair of them before taking the spare seat next to Catherine listening in on the conversation; only Gil was left at the table going over documents:

'You still on for tomorrow Catherine?'

Catherine lifted her head looking at Nick the CSI three's intent serious gaze was upon her while Warrick and Sara were talking over there cases and the double shift they had tomorrow. She smiled at the serious look on Nick's face before replying softly:

'If you are Nick and I'll finely get to see this apartment of yours that I've heard so much about'

They shared a glance Nick smiled looking Sara's way not saying anything else the brown eyes shyly innocent under her gaze:

'Around three will that be ok Nick?'

The CSI three gave her that winning smile:

'Fine with me Catherine'

Nick turning his attention back to the other conversation, for a moment she looked back down at her work before once more looking up at the CSI three across from her glad to see Nick as he was now.

Then to the woman that sat next to him; her own thoughts turning to the changes which this relationship had brought when it had come to light a short time after the day Nick had walked out on them…..

The dynamics of the team changing twice over with that; Nick asking the one question that she herself had been unable to put forward over that relationship between Gil and Sara. With the tension which had hung over them all on that one being played out, the cards laid on the table and her own relationship with Gil had been tighter since…..

The second more profound change following hot on the heels of that; as she watched the couple in front of her, Sara coming out her shell through Nick which had reflected not only onto her live outside the labs but her work as well …..

…..A fact none of them had missed most notably Grissom; and today Sara was getting the merit she deserved becoming a CSI three with it being the sensitive man who sat beside her that had helped make it happen….

With that in mind she watched as Gil made his way over to them the conversation between her other three colleagues stopping all looking at the boss Gil stepping forward pride clearly visible on his face and in his voice handing over Sara's CSI three cards.

His words only commending the scene further; while Nick and Warrick looked seriously on her own eye however was firmly on Nick. Seeing the look in those brown eyes his handsome gaze set on Sara who was smiling after all the undo attention; from both Gil and Warrick the latter of the two adding a joke that Nick was going to have even more competition now.

Nick at that playing along with Warrick's jibe by launching an all out attack back Sara joining in as well; Gil who stood a little apart caught her own eye with a slightly amused look as they shared a glance watching the three younger members of the team fight it out.

Sending him a smile her gaze once more fell back on the CSI three across from her the enthusiasm in Nick's gestures, his strength of character stealing the limelight while the three colleagues continued to bicker between them selves, in comedic fashion.

Grissom trying to now calm them down for once with little success; her own voice cut in at that sharply bringing them all to a halt….

Nick's steady gaze landing on her they looked at each other one colleague to another she acknowledged it in the way she always did; Nick at that moment looking downward the head bowed before looking back up at her the brown warm eyes giving away more than any spoken word…

…. With Sara being the one who had helped Nick overcome his father death and there was an added edge to Nick one that had come only through Sara; more confidence, surer off himself and his abilities bringing added dimension to his work.

One which had made the competition between Warrick and Nick all the hotter and being second in command she had also watched Gil push Nick all the harder for that same reason though the CSI three had remained blissfully unaware of it.

Though it was what she seen now; watching the actions and closeness of both Nick and Sara which had the most profound effect of all. One always there for the other and that they were completely gone on each other she smiled again at the look in Nick's brown reflective eyes.

He was completely head over heals; something that had given him a great deal of ribbing from other colleague's most notably Warrick .Her own gaze at that drifting back across to Gil knowing how much Sara meant to him and although he had more or less given Nick the opposite impression it was apparent to her that deep down he approved of that relationship as well.

For they seemed in her eyes anyway to be two equals that had at last found each other complementing each other strength for strength and when they thought no one had been looking she had seen the look they gave each other and watching the content young man across from her now how having Sara by his side had made all the difference…

'So your going paragliding tomorrow Nick?'

Gil breaking the conversation and her own thoughts; one stray thought remaining though as she looked between the two, the workaholic which was Grissom and the CSI three who tried his best to win his approval. That they had mended the fences after the Wilkinson case but it had not been easy; as Nick now turned to face his boss nodding in answer Warrick also having overheard kicked in his own answer:

'Nick prefers that to roller coasters Gil'

The CSI three sent his competitor a cautious glance:

'Warrick'

The two rivals glared at each other; Grissom in turn giving her a look to speak instead it was Sara who stood up breaking the whole thing up making ready to leave, Nick following suit grinned handing his case file over to Warrick before turning to Gil his Texan accent clear filling the room:

'So I hear you and Catherine took that last case down in style nothing to do with the cockroach though?'

The Texan shifted his gaze between them a grin on the handsome features waiting for a reply; she looked at Gil for the reaction which was sure to come, it did Grissom giving his younger colleague a glare before answering in typical form:

'That we did and do you still want the night of or not Nick?'

Nick's gaze turned to her ignoring the look on Gil's face; Nick trying his best to also hide a grin as Sara dug him in the ribs, Nick at that commenting light-heartedly to Grissom:

'Ok boss maybe the cockroach had a little to do with it I was just going by Catherine here'

The Texan smiled her way she returned it as Gil returned comment to the CSI three:

'Nick'

The hint taken Nick gave them both a look his features turning into a broad smile politely leaving it at that, the end of shift banter thankfully over.

Nick and Sara standing for a moment more talking between themselves; Sara linking hands with Nick as her own gaze returned to Gil's for a long moment they held eye contact before Grissom's gaze moved of her to the couple who were heading for the door…..

With that her gaze followed suit the couple now almost out of her sight but for a split second she was certain Nick's soft brown eyes looked back at them as if in someway knowing but maybe it was the trick of the light or her own eye maybe…..

For it was a day she would end up remembering for all the wrong reasons; a day that would mark the end of an era one that would never come again and though none of them knew it at that moment…..

….It would be the last time they would stand together as they had been, as that team of five. For the following day a light flickered and dimmed. Thought quenched completely and the world that she and her colleagues knew was forever a darker crueller place without it ….

* * *

The first light of the rising Nevada sun bathed the room, the light of it capturing the sleeping lean form…..

Sara lay close watching the man next to her the steady rise and fall of that chest, the first light playing of those handsome features, the brown eyes which expressed so much closed in sleep oblivious to her loving gaze….

……Light reflecting of the tanned skin she smiled seeing him twitch then murmur something in sleep. Those sounds which enticed her; his head falling a little closer to her own still deep asleep, though as the light began to filter through stronger than before the rising sun capturing Nicky Stokes in its early rays….

It enthralled her studying his every movement; as she now moved ever so slightly closer, close enough to now hear that heart beat below her. Stretching her arm out across the chest she closed her eyes resting there protectively hearing that slow constant rhythm…..

For a moment letting her self drift; with the love they shared from the first time they had lain like this only strengthening and deepening with what had lain dormant in there friendship now free it encompassed both of them ….

Nick letting her into every inch of his live; finding herself only falling more opening up in a way she never had with anyone before letting Nick walk where no other had, with there only being further understanding between them but that was only a small part of it.

There was a constant thrill in what lay there between them and there relationship only mirrored that gathering at such pace it still left her spellbound how far they had come and how intimately she now knew this man…

…and whenever they looked in each other eyes forever left her heart pounding or in that gentle warm touch and even when they had had there fights the making up afterwards had been even more intense and rewarding.

The depth of love between them only growing; the heights to which they had soared through it only continued to strengthen the unbreakable bond her spirit, heart and soul were one with this man who had given all of himself over to her and who loved her from the very depths of that heart and soul of his….

Instinctively she opened her dark eyes feeling at the same moment the live below her beginning to stir, the heartbeat becoming a little faster with the arm which had been protectively wrapped round her shoulder in sleep slid gently to her waist.

With that she lifted her head slightly as Nick's brown sleepy eyes flickered open looking directly into hers she smiled at that look:

'Good morning sleepy head'

Her tone playful Nick's brown eyes shone at her in return:

'Sara'

Grinning at him she touched the square jaw line before replying:

'Yeah'

The features turned serious on her:

'You always this bright first thing'

Nick giving her a playful look and had she actually thought a little more about those words off Nick's she might have even then coined onto the fact of what was happening within her….

Which was in every way linked with this man beside her; but right at this moment looking into those brown soft pools the comment was taken at face value, her hand circling the bare muscular chest before replying teasingly:

'For a night off Nick you sure know how to make the most off it'

Arching her eyebrow at him the brown eyes sent her a burning look Nick's gentle hand came up to hers; there fingertips touching first then interlinking the touch itself magnetic her smaller hand encircled within Nick's…..

Sending him a mischievous smile at that there gaze again met; Nick's features turning innocent the hand in hers at that moment gave a gentle squeeze his tone serious in answer to her:

'By sleeping'

His brown eyes rested tenderly on Sara Sidle.

The small hand linked in his tightened its grip in answer; to the words just spoken between them.

With the early morning rays from the sun filtering through onto them; for the moment though he was too taken with the woman who lay beside him to notice the increasing light of day…..

Sara now lifting her head a little the brunette shoulder; length hair cascading further forward onto his chest with that movement. The dark fiery eyes alight; her fine features tucking up into that full smile.

There was a hint of mischief also playing in that gaze which was directed at him as Sara with pin point accuracy dug him hard in the ribs with her free hand causing him to groan:

'Nicky'

His heart gave a pull; the hand linked in his released coming to his shoulder, Sara drawing him over with her he gazed deep into those dark eyes:

'Sara'

Her name was no more than a whisper; as she continued to look up into those brown warm eyes of the man whose arms she was now protectively cradled in. Her hand which gripped Nick's shoulder fell, her gaze getting lost in those brown depths as she traced the strong forearm…..

…..The dark eyes sparkled; Sara's hand coming back up to his shoulder, slowly touching the silky cream skin he reached out following the gentle contours of Sara's slim form before coming to rest at her hip.

He smiled, Sara's look becoming even more mischievous as they drew into a kiss. There lips lightly touching at first for a moment keeping it that way; then they surrendered to each other Nick bringing her close, the kiss deepening in intensity sealing the love between them in that moment….

Before they slowly withdrew; Nick's brown eyes coming to once more look into hers she blushed under that gaze hitting him with one last comment:

'I don't think sleeping quite covers it Nick'

Receiving a quizzical look in return the hand which lightly rested on her hip came up to her cheek barely touching it:

'You're the most gorgeous thing I ever laid eyes on Sara'

The tone itself went straight to her heart; she looked up into those brown innocent pools and that all too serious gaze the love shining there and what always overcame her in these moments. It left her in awe for this man to be hers in this way as she quietly teased him back:

'You're not to bad looking yourself Stokes'

Sending him a wicked smile she leaned in giving Nick a quick kiss, her thoughts changing to the day ahead:

'Double shift Nick'

They both turned at the same moment to look at the clock; smiling he turned back first bringing Sara closer to him:

'Which means you and Warrick are spending the day in the labs if I'm not mistaken Sidle.'

They kissed again at that, Sara giving him a comical look:

'Something like that Nick'

The dark eyes glinted into his waiting on his next comment:

'Let me guess you don't want to be late for work?'

Shaking her head in answer she leaned in kissing Nick hard:

'Must be your bad influence'

Receiving a hurt look she ceased the moment touching the jaw line her tone soft:

'Double shift or not Nick who said anything about being late?'

The gentle features turned serious the dark starlight eyes shone brightly into his, Sara arching her eyebrow at him. For a moment they stayed as such not saying anything the look enough; then the hand dropped from his jaw….

Sara giving him that smile; returning the same one he gave those dark eyes one last glance before he leaned in tenderly kissing Sara, her arms wrapping round his neck bringing him even closer ….

Instinct taking over between them; the kiss growing in magnitude as he looked once more into those dark eyes as he followed Sara's every contour….

His touch ever gentle upon her; kissing between the full breasts, then brushing the nipples which gathered and stiffened under his touch, before he came up to look again into those dark pools kissing Sara's soft lips in that same moment…

….For a second her dark eyes closed as they once more kissed; Nick gliding over her as the intimacy grew in the rhythmical collision of there flesh. Pleasure engulfing every part of her…..

The brown soft pools came to once more look into hers; gently her fingers traced his lean form knowing every crevice and groove of that slightly rough skin as she lost herself there in those chasms……

…….A cry escaped from her lips; they were free falling in this chasm of there own making and with that touch that belonged only to him, there lips once brushed each other…..

The rising Nevada sun hit the mountains…..

Light cut across the bedroom the beams becoming brighter with each passing moment as they once more kissed; Nick lying back as her hand which lay on the bare chest followed the movement…..

Her arm stretching back out across the muscular chest to lie again in that crevice her head resting at Nick's shoulder blade; they lay peacefully studying each other Nick's finger's gently running through her hair, as the light grew steadily stronger….

The dark eyes looked brightly into his stifling a grin at Sara; his gaze moved off her taking in the sunlight which was bathing them as his gaze came back to where it had been. Slowly trying not to disturb Sara to much he rose, kissing her shoulder before discarding the sheets….

Turning with the slight touch of the shoulder; she lay where she was taking in the lean frame as Nick began to dress, acting at the same time on that earlier comment of his:

'Do you tell every woman that?'

She smiled the head looked up; the gaze innocent a smile coming to the strong features:

'No just one in particular'

Continuing to look his way she propped herself up into sitting position wrapping the bed sheets around her; she smiled wickedly as Nick half dressed leaned on the edge of the bed planting a kiss on her forehead. Keeping herself poised in position, her hand tucked into the top of the combat trousers she looked up enquiringly:

'So how does it feel being a CSI three Sara?'

His lean frame now coming down to her height; the strong hand linking with hers gave a gentle squeeze the brown eyes shone gently into hers as her free hand lingered on the jaw line before answering:

'Just the same as being a CSI two just you no longer out rank me partner'

The hand on his jaw moved the dark eyes were mirages of love as he leaned in kissing Sara hard; as her fingers came up to purposefully run through his hair ruffling it as she did so. Smiling at her he slowly withdrew clearing his throat; unable to resist one last comment:

'Yea but I don't get that treatment from any other CSI three'

Rolling her eyes at him; she tried her best to hide a smile also grabbing the nearest pillow making ready to threateningly launch it at him. That smile of his now there in all its glory as Nick winked at her and left the room….

Nicky Stokes stood at the kitchen counter; light was just starting to hit of the coffee table; the rucksack with his paragliding gear sat ready next to the couch. Sara making her way through glanced at it then grinned his way.

The cup which he held in his hand stopped in mid motion his gaze drank her in; Sara ready for work was dressed in Levi jeans and a deep red crop top. The jeans snug on her trim form, the top casual but elegant revealed a little of her cleavage the deep red making the fire in those dark eyes all the more visible…

With her creamy skin illuminated by what she wore; she looked radiant in every sense of the word and was now giving him a look to match. Sara now moving from there over to him grabbing a cup of coffee as she did so….

Sending Nick a wink she lifted the coffee moving from the kitchen counter over to the large window; her gaze taking in Las Vegas which was basking in the early morning sun stretching for miles in either direction from this vantage point before her gaze shifted of the suburban sprawl before her.

To look at the crystal clear horizon; the mountains and the deep blue sky where cumulous clouds stood out tinged in the early morning light; they would make good paragliding. Her gaze drifting back onto the distant mountains and peaks; which could be seen from here her thoughts turning to Nick…..

As she continued to look at the mountains before slowly turning back to face Nick; finishing the coffee at that moment she moved swiftly from the window back over to the counter. Before once more looking Nick's way the brown eyes danced at her. Sensing that something was on his mind she gave him a direct look.

Sara's dark eyes penetrated his; giving her a lopsided grin in response and though Sara was unable to, he could not help but ask:

'You sure you don't want to come?'

Rolling her eyes and knowing how much it meant to him; she played on the serious look she was getting:

'What and cramp your style Nick'

A smile broke across his features; Sara's starlight eyes flared at him as she now tilted her head giving him a meaningful look. His heart missed a beat….

For a moment more he stood there mesmerized unable to tear himself away from that gaze. Then in one sure movement the pace between them gone; he gently wrapped his arm's protectively round Sara's slender waist drawing her close….

Her heart leapt in the embrace as Nick drew her close. Heat from his muscular form engulfing her slowly her hands came down to entwine with Nick's her dark eyes closed; his head now resting at her shoulder and for a moment they stood as such enjoying the contact of it before she turned to look into those brown soft pools….

Seeing the amused look on those handsome features she gave him a full smile; Nick kissing the nape of her neck in answer to that before slowly reaching away for his jacket, making ready to leave…..

Letting him go her gaze followed the quickness and sureness of those steady movements of his; the brown warm eyes looked her way again and what was there in there relationship shone there in those brown pools; her heart raced smiling back.

As she gazed admiringly his way taking in the normal casual wear accustomed to him; light coloured combat trousers, a blue v-neck sweater that showed a little of the tanned chest below and his fawn jerkin jacket covering his physic.

Light reflecting for a moment of the face of the black watch into her own eye; as one strong muscular arm reached for the rucksack Nick lifting it with ease standing up to his full height shifted a smile her way.

His athletic form reaching the door before turning back to face her; they shared a look. The brown eyes giving her that intense gaze but it was the words that were spoken at that moment that would be etched in her memory and heart for years to come the Texan voice full of love the words coming straight from that heart of his:

'You complete me Sara'

The tone itself serious but soft; Nick standing at the door looking every bit the man he was the light capturing his energetic frame, the confidence in his stance, the brown short hair setting of the handsome serious features, the light shining in those intense brown eyes that were looking into hers. The love in them was immeasurable it sent her into free fall….

As Nick turned leaving her hanging by a moment; with that she jumped to live bounding out into the hallway catching him up, reflexively grabbing the collar of the jacket as she did so her tone gentle:

'Plus you're the only man who can put up with my singing'

There gaze met; that smile crossed his features before falling into a lopsided grin the brown eyes reflecting of hers the gentle hand coming up to caress her cheek; she trembled under the touch. It held intimacy like no other; as they continued to gaze in each other eyes….

Then Nick slowly leaned in kissing her full on the lips; she fell into him responding to the tenderness of his touch. Nick bringing her even closer his arms protectively coming round her waist pulling her tight into him, the intensity of it overwhelmed her as the kiss slowly ended leaving her breathless.

Nick grinning her way holding the embrace for a moment more gave her a shy look:

'But you would not want it any other way'

The brown eyes were deep wells of love as she smiled back her hand touching the blue soft cotton of the sweater:

'Stokes'

Sharing a grin his hand linked with hers; the brown innocent eyes coming to look once more into hers as they affectionately disengaged; Nick giving her just enough time to plant a kiss of his forehead…….

Her hand gently releasing from his strong one; the brown warm eyes staying on her for a moment as her gaze followed his energetic pace. With Nick reaching the end of the hallway swivelled back round to face her; she sent him a smile as he done so the rich soft Texan accent rang out:

'See you at work Sara'

It would be his last words to her neither of them expecting it would never come to pass; that Nick would never make it and if she had known what lay ahead on this day, she would have never let this vulnerable strong man who had light up her entire live out of her sight…..

…..Nick standing there for a moment more; the brown intense pools giving a gaze that eclipsed her heart where she could see right into the very depths of that soul of his and though nothing was said between them. She always wondered what was going through his head at that moment….

Then the brown eyes dropped there gaze; his athletic form moving with the vigour and live that was so much part of him as Nick turned falling out of her line of vision. It was the last time she would see him….

* * *

Greg stood looking in through the glass the meeting in there was yet to start. It had been twenty-four hours since the first word had hit that Nick Stokes was missing the news itself passing through the labs at such pace sending a shock wave throughout along with it.

At first he had refused to believe what he was hearing that something like this could happen to a colleague but as the hours passed and the fact the evidence was running its way through the labs to be analysed the reality had sunk in…

He looked at the slim A4 folder in his hand and the name on it. It was not the first time Nicky Stokes DNA and details had passed through the labs for all the wrong reasons then Nick had been the prime suspect now he was the victim; and as the lab technician his work had been to confirm in black and white what the team which was left already knew.

The finger prints and blood had all been his colleagues, the only evidence there was and this folder held all the data on that, it was like a death certificate and he had been the one to sign it. Science in the end only giving one answer that Nick was dead and Greg no matter how hard he tried could not accept that fact….

….and this folder which he currently held was more for it held all the relevant data; the sum of those parts the blue print and genetics behind that live, and it was now you seen just how much that one live touched others….

Plus if it was not himself standing here but someone else then that person would have been rather taken aback, surprised and overcome by the amount of emotion being shown by colleagues…

With that his finger tapped the thin folder it seemed little these sheets of black and white paper; for the person whose details it carried, his gaze shifted to the seats to the right of where Gil, Catherine, Warrick and Sara were currently sitting.

That was the last place that he had seen Nick and all he had simply done was wave. With his last words to Nick being a short time before that which had also been given to Warrick telling them both to get out his lab, the Texan had leaving in his usual fashion.

He shook his head feeling anger at himself that his words had not been better for Nick of all that team had always been the easiest to talk to about anything with the Texan by nature being easy going but serious and well liked throughout the labs. Someone who least deserved this fate it made his blood run cold even at the thought of what had befallen his colleague….

With that his gaze fell on Sara and the look in her eyes. His own thoughts went back to a very different day from this and even now it brought a smile to his face remembering what he had walked in on:

* * *

I_t had been the end of his shift _and he had rushed into the quiet locker rooms more interested in getting home than anything else at that point. However he came to an abrupt halt his frantic pace ceased when he came upon Nick and Sara in the locker rooms they were the only two people there and they clearly had not heard him come in.

His own eye taking a moment to register just what he was seeing his mind then raced trying to figure out when all this had happened and why the heck he had not heard about it.

The only thing he did know about was the Wilkinson case and the mood Nick had been in over that case, it had been worse than Grissom on a bad day and that was saying something. With Nick showing a side that Greg did not want to see again in a hurry and worried though he had been he knew he would find out sooner or later what had been up with the CSI three.

However this was two days later and something had definitely happened of the different sort. He stood a moment longer realising they were still completely oblivious to the fact he was there and like a school kid that had just caught the seniors doing something they were not meant to be doing he cleared his throat loudly.

Thad did draw there attention as Sara turned round Nick's serious gaze falling on him, nothing was said for a moment the couple holding hands in front of him smiling at one another and like him not altogether sure what to say either, as Sara finely broke the ice:

'Greg'

With that he quickly replied his tone innocent:

'Sara'

Then smiling he glanced at the man at her side emphasising the point as he spoke:

'Nick'

The silence descended again with them not going beyond the formalities of each others names plus going by the looks the couple were now shifting each other. He had obviously been the first to find out as he spoke again acting on that, something he would instantly regret for it happened every time:

'So Gil does not know about you two yet?'

He had not even finished the sentence when he registered the fact Nick and Sara were no longer looking at him and someone behind him replied:

'I do now Greg'

With that his gaze fell on Gil who was standing beside him. Gil giving him that gaze that always made him nervous and along with it he sensed Sara and Nick giving him the same look it was one of those moments when he wished the ground would just swallow him up on the spot.

Feeling out numbered and out of his depth he gave them his best smile and at last spoke:

'I guess I should leave'

Gil nodded still giving him that same glance and with that he looked quickly at Nick and Sara sending a smile there way as he headed back towards the door that he had not many minutes before rushed in no longer in quite such a hurry to get home.

It was at that moment someone else also walked in, the timing even better than his own had been as he found himself getting a puzzled ice glare:

'Hi Greg I thought your shift was finished'

It was Catherine he smiled looking over Gil's way, Catherine picking up on it:

'Something happen I should know about?'

This time he grinned at her his tone deliberately coy:

'Maybe you had better ask Nick and Sara'

Before anything else could be said and knowing what Catherine was like with him he took flight back into the labs deciding not to hang around to watch whatever happened next knowing he would hear soon enough …

* * *

…That was six months ago and though he could not help be a little jealous of Nick it was apparent how they felt for each other and seeing them as a couple he was surprised it had took them so long to get together as it had done.

For being opposites in one sense they were a lot alike in other ways and they had become a welcome sight in the dark surroundings of these labs; where what they shared brought a little light into these non-descript corridors, that dealt so much with the darkness of live and the fact he had never let either of them live it down that he had been the one to catch them together.

With that his smile faded looking at the sadness, fire and pain in Sara's gaze. However there was something else in those dark eyes which shone there, it out weighed everything else it was the love for the man that had not only been her colleague and friend but had been so much more and he could only begin to contemplate what Sara was going through.

Just it was the whole team not just Sara that was suffering as his gaze now moved round them Warrick the element of cool to this team, was no longer far from it at this moment by the impatient gaze he was shifting Gil's way mixed with the look of emotion and frustration on his features that went along with it.

It spoke volumes as his gaze shifted to Catherine who sat alone the seat empty next to her the blue eyes had a heart broken look. She had been the first on that crime scene and though he knew Catherine had plenty of experience on the field; that scene had none the less shook the usually controlled CSI she was and with working so many cases with both Catherine and Nick he was all to aware how much that Texan meant to her.

With that his gaze fell on the man in charge looking at Gil; it was the first time the lab technician had seen him like this. Emotion was there something Gil hardly ever showed and Greg was sure if they ever found the person responsible for this he knew by the look in Grissom's eyes that there would be hell to pay for this some day…

Slowly he ran his finger along the binding of this folder, thinking of the man that was not here he had been like a brother to him in a way a big brother that he had never had and the team in there had been struck at the very heart, by an unseen enemy that had not only taken Nick but had taken a whole team down with him and they were giving up when a live depended on them now more than ever and he could not let that happen….

… Even when the evidence and information gathered was giving them no hope that death had by science been the victor only underlined by the fact this was the critical twenty four hours when the chances had all but diminished of finding Nick alive.

However Greg's gut instincts were telling him otherwise and though he had little experience out on the field something was telling him that for a hit; there was easier ways than what had been carried out. If the person responsible had wanted Nick Stokes dead and for that reason it gave him hope yet that Nick might still be alive. Although he was not sure who else would believe him on that one.

The one thing he did know for certain though and Gil had been adamant on was that Nick had known his attacker. On that judgement he himself thought there was a small chance they might as well but Gil had already been down that route and come up with nothing…

He was not going to be discouraged though. His gut instincts were to strong to ignore and like Nick he did not believe in all of Grissom's theories and considering Gil still had to come up with one for this case Greg was going to add his own input.

Lab technician though he was he knew science did not hold all the answers plus this was a colleague and friends live that was hanging in the balance. His field of work giving the wrong answer, one he did not believe to be correct and he wanted to do everything in his power to help find Nick with renewed will; he glanced one last time at the folder in his hand before heading towards the door to enter that all important room.

A room which usually was a hive of activity but right now it was completely still and sombre as Greg closed the door quietly behind him you could hear a pin drop it was that deathly silent. The mood which hung over those colleagues before him filled the air as he moved forward his gaze fell to the table.

Looking at the evidence and information that was scattered across it his eye drawn to one thing. The one thing which had been on the victim lay there only Sara's gaze was on it, Nick's watch was there in a sealed packet and compared to everyone else Greg took it as a sign a good sign…

Slowly he made his way forward; it would be the moment when he would go from CSI wannabe to becoming a serious CSI and those gut instincts would stand him in good stead. Though it would be years before any of those thoughts would be proved right one way or the other…

He took the spare seat all eyes were on him; the silence only seemed to intensify as he drew up beside Catherine nothing was said. Gil giving him that gaze making him all the more nervous and he knew his slight resemblance was not helping either, but they were giving up it was written on all there faces and the person who was not here would have never done that.

Putting his own folder on the table he lifted the sealed packet looking at the watch concealed safely inside it. His gaze rested on the cracked face and the time on the aluminous dials, his thought going back over these last hours….

They had been clutching at straws from the onset, finding nothing to go on making no major break and they had found no trace of Nick dead or alive and that he was essentially still missing …

…Missing but more than likely to be dead.

Greg watched the second hand of the watch ticking away. Live slipping past in his own hand as he gazed at it; knowing there was only a slim chance the owner of this watch was still alive but he knew Nick.

The CSI he had been determination, humanity and will being Nick Stokes hallmark. Nick being someone who did not give up when the odds were all out against him and Nick would not have went down without a fight that the Texan would have clung onto live when no one else would….

….Making the watch which he was looking at all the more significant it had not stopped.

It was still keeping perfect time and Greg superstitious though he could be. Thought there was something in that for the watch was a possession directly linked to the person that wore it and with as much certainty in his tone as he could muster his voice loud and upbeat he spoke his mind glancing first at Sara and then Gil:

'Nick's alive'

He pushed the watch back onto the middle of the table his words had an immediate effect as Sara lifted her head as if agreeing with him both Catherine and Warrick gave him a glare and though no one said anything he felt the change in them as his gaze fell back on Gil's steal glare the look implying that he wanted to know what he was basing that judgement on and enthusiastically he replied:

'The watch Gil'

They glared at each other again as Gil at last spoke starting the meeting, Greg listened hoping that his gut instincts were correct and that this missing person was still alive…..

* * *

_The haunting fierce cry_ filled the rocky Nevada valley another piercing cry answered it, Nicky Stokes looked up from his watch his gaze fell on a pair of golden eagles which had distracted him he watched them as they soared a little higher, the cool breeze lifting them they entranced him with there beauty and power soaring over these ancient mountains that were there home.

For a moment his gaze diverted back to his watch it was early morning yet, the sun starting to climb a little higher illuminating the Sheep Range of mountains before him the leaflets for Lindsey he had already collected; leaflets which he knew would please a girl that took after her resourceful mother, with that now done the morning was his own as he looked out over the mountains where those eagles soared over the landscape.

Something else flicker in his line of vision catching his eye, his gaze moved with it a little further down air borne and looking a little out of place compared to those eagles. The bright red canopy of the paraglider who he had just spoken to fifteen minutes earlier….

Someone who bore no real significance to him Drew Tanner a guy in his mid-twenties who he just happened to have met and who like him happened to have a love for paragliding and was a native of Las Vegas. Someone who would later on this same day also speak to his boss….

His gaze once more moved drifting back onto the pair of golden eagles now circling one another, one of them diving lower towards those mountain peaks a smile crossed his features.

He could not have picked a better mid-November morning it was cool but the sky with its cumulus clouds which were slowly drifting across the sky would make perfect paragliding.

The mountains which stretched out before him looked distant outlined against the blue, mountains which defined not only this part of Nevada but ran a line right up through the states to the big sky country of Montana and beyond.

Breathing the sharp clear air in his gaze shifted round the rugged shrub less landscape in front of him; he was miles from the fast paced, chaos of Las Vegas, his work and Sara which lay to the south of where he was now…..

His brown eyes shifted again looking further to the west out beyond those mountains was California and the Pacific Ocean and with that he swung his head round to face the chasm below him. Looking to his east; and out there beyond the range in front of him was the tranquillity off Lake Mead, with Arizona and the Grand Canyon beyond that and further east still lay Texas…..

The lone star state where he had grown up where the land so very different from this; with its lakes and green foothills that he had looked out onto as a boy and cowboy country that Dallas and the state of Texas had as its foundations.

His thoughts turned reflective it was where he had grown up; but Nevada with its diamond deserts and mountains which were altogether different and though for his years he had not been far travelled, apart from the lone star state and Nevada he had seen little of the continent that was his homeland….

The lure though had always been there with his by the book parents; who had along with the law and justice which had been the back bone of his up bringing made sure each of them by heart knew the history and geography of each state.

It had been drummed into him and the maps in his fathers study showing the vast Americas had only intrigued and sparked an enthusiastic youngster who knew nothing different from the sheltered, hard working, traditional Texas way of live…

….Neither of his parents once expecting there youngest son would one day uproot and leave the home state of Texas to see beyond the horizon of the foothills which surrounded Dallas which he had spent most of his live looking out onto…

To make his own roots and to at least see a little of this land with his own eye, his footsteps leading him here to Nevada to Sin City and these mountains….

The mountains drawing him in much the same way he was drawn to the stars and to Sara. There was something about the ancient history which surrounded them that man did not rule here only the land and the elements did and where you were as near the heavens as you could get…

…And in times of trouble the mountains were where he had come to gain perspective and reflect finding peace when inner torment had threatened to overwhelm him and where you were but a spec in this vast open frontier….

His hand touched the earth below him, his features clouding for a moment he had come here often after Kristy even more so after Nigel Crane and his thoughts now drifted to his late father remembering him as he had been for a moment feeling the loss which had been raw some months before.

As an old memory returned his gaze shifting to his Para-gliding gear and without realizing it he also touched the ring on his finger feeling the cool metal. He had always had a head for heights and what he was going to be doing today was the extreme of that….

At the age of six though and dared by his sister five years older than him; his closest playmate at that time. He had climbed to the highest branch of the Red Oak tree which curtailed there backyard, doing it in style reaching the top before coming back down to earth with a thud and with one proper war wound for it.

Which had taken his father away from his work and one Matthew Garrett who at that time had been a close ally of his father and had remained as such, with his father coming to see what the outcome of his exploits had been; and apart from a bruised ego, some scratches and that he had managed to fracture his right wrist in the fall, which had not went down well.

With his sister getting into a proper scrape over letting it happen; it had in the end though only encouraged him to seek further heights, landing him in only more trouble and the fact he could never keep his feet on the ground or out of mischief with his sisters continuously running after him in one way or the other during that time.

Grinning at the memory his thoughts shifting of his father and his early childhood memories looking at the pair of golden eagles; something else which had always intrigued him he studied them for a moment. Knowing there significance it was there to the naked eye emblems of power and courage and always had been since ancient times and they mystified him completely.

Watching the pair at play, the sun higher now the Para-glider he had been watching earlier was now out of his sight. Once more one of those eagles gave a cry it filled the chasm in front of him calling on its mate who now swept below it and in the light there vast wing span became clearer as they became silhouetted next to the sun gliding free over this defiant land.

His thoughts turned inwards his gaze staying on the pair of golden eagles high above; thinking of Sara his heart missing a beat remembering the words spoken between them this morning, her gentle features carved in the light and the look in those dark starlight eyes just before he had turned to leave it had left him falling…

The love shining there; with the fragility and spirit within Sara encircling him illuminating his heart and soul and the love they had shared from the first time he had taken Sara into his arms lay beyond him. The unspoken instinct forging itself with Las Vegas answering to there beckoned call…..

Sara opening her heart and soul to him; the love there taking him to new heights and he could not get enough it enriched his live in everyway possible, her very touch upon him sent his heart free….

With that his gaze landed once more on his gear and though she did not quite share his love of heights, Sara had been a quick enough learner when it had come to the paragliding; the look in those dark eyes seeing them light up the delight across her features showing her the ropes and that penetrating gaze as he had told her the basics of this sport which he had been introduced to after one certain case.

Sara being a born natural; getting the same thrill as he did and anytime they came together they were always teasing each other, challenging themselves and more often than not giving themselves a long hike back through the wilderness to the tahoe.

It gave inner joy to him and the way she sometimes tossed that brunette head of hair, the sparkle in those eyes combined with that energy and curiosity of hers it perplexed him and the occasional ribbing Sara gave him for being the party animal he could be at times….

And all Sara had been through in her own live his heart ached all the more knowing the pain caused by a father who had mistreated Sara and her mother but she had still none the less loved.

The look across her gentle features; Sara's dark eyes alight but tear filled as she had told him, all the while he had tenderly held her close hushing her shouldering the pain. To be there for her in that way, to share all those things not only with what had gone before in her live but in everything else as well…

With no words required between them; just a glance into those dark intelligent eyes enough and in those moments it brought a smile to his own features and the fact Sara never ceased to surprise him….

The bond only deepening between them binding them closer; they were as one and where ever else that lead it would forever fulfil him and whenever he looked into Sara's dark starlight eyes only strengthened that it was like nothing else on this earth.

Sara completed him in every way possible; he closed his eyes for a second remembering the first time he had asked her up to dance not long after they had got together…..

……Quietly teasing her at the same time about not getting out enough and that he was not going to take no for an answer. Sara teasing him right back and linking his hand with hers the dark eyes looking deep into his he had taken her up to dance to an old western tune it had been like poetry, each movement as one …..

It unbound him and whenever Sara sang his heart ached. It was like coming home to a home he had never been to before; his dawn light and evening star, his beating heart was one with hers and he would be forever free falling with Sara like those eagles above who soared and glided over these mountains….

With that his gaze shifted again looking over the rocky windswept landscape he smiled he felt settled here in this land lifting his head; he closed his eyes feeling the heat of the sun on his face and the cool breeze go through his hair….

It was here in Nevada in these mountains that his call had been answered finding what he had been searching for all his live. He felt at peace here something that he had not felt in a long time and the feeling he belonged here…

Under these skies looking out onto these mountains which drew him like the endless stars in the evening sky and that his live was here with Sara, Las Vegas now as familiar to him as the eastern side of Dallas where he had grown up.

With his work bringing the challenge and justice he had always sought and a little more Sara completing that circle; in all his live he had never been more content than he was now ….

His brown eyes flickered open looking back out over the golden landscape below him his gaze searching for those eagles but they were now out his sight. With that his hand reached for the helmet and the rest of his gear he jumped agilely to his feet.

Standing for a moment more he drew in all that was around him. The blue of the horizon where sky met mountain; the occasional sound telling him he was not totally alone out here in this wilderness.

Grass growing sparsely where the little thin soil in these craggy surroundings allowed it, the breeze the only other sound as it skirted over the earth. At his feet a stray piece of tumble weed flew past him his eye followed it as it lifted of gently being carried through the air, the breeze now catching it as it gathered speed to land in some other spot far from here…

With that he buckled up turning round the purple canopy already spread out before him on this incline carefully he put on the helmet. Taking a clear breath he readied himself looking from this precipice seeing a few pinion pines clinging to the bare rocks further down the progressive slope.

Giving him self one last quick check the purple canopy began to lift; his thought turned inwards for a moment it was like nothing else the feeling of taking of stepping out into nothing….

Almost all and he thought again of Sara a grin coming to his features. The canopy flared above him he stepped out skill fully; hanging by a moment for a second then he took flight. Gliding out then he was free falling giving a whoop of joy his cry rang out echoing off the mountains….

Way out in the distance a lone golden eagle glided over the barren desolate mountain landscape; its sharp eye taking in the Nevada land before sweeping lower to those rocky crags giving a long fierce echoing cry as it searched for its mate…..

* * *

Thousands are reported missing each year throughout the United States -

In Las Vegas 5 – 7 Adults are reported missing each day;

And more than 200 reported missing each month.

Most turn up either alive or deceased within the 24 – 72 hour time frame from the time reported missing. Some don't…..

Nicky Stokes was in that category.

* * *

The dark office was silent behind him the clock ticked slowly his gaze landed on this all important document which lay on his desk. A document given to him on the opening of this case; a case which was now days old …

It held all the key information on an individuals live. When and where they were born, there social security number, there education, employment history, health status and all other relevant data. Nothing was missing from here. It was a permanent record for every year of that individual's live…..

There achievements all they had done; what had moulded them and what had also impacted there live was written between the lines of this official private and confidential document. It gave insight - sharp insight.

Gil Grissom laid the palm of his hand on the file looking at the name written in bold black type Nicholas Stokes. This was the documentation of his live and it reflected all the Texan had been….

Reinforcing along with it two facts; which to all that had known him had always been there along with that will and determination of his the CSI three had been strong more so than he had ever let on and crucially on all counts he had been a fighter…

His gaze shifted at that thought looking at the blank file which had Nicky Stokes written in red it was the missing person file. Beside it sat evidence; the work of Ecklie's team, photos from the crime scene, Nick's watch, the information they had gathered since and the data Greg had run off.

All these documents would be amalgamated. As it was now this was an open case. An open case with more questions than answers; a puzzle in which they, the team left held next to none of the pieces…

With a crime scene which gave nothing with nothing unusual leading up to it; a motiveless attack which had happened no later than noon and that they could only ascertain as being a hit on an innocent who had been more innocent than most. The victim being well liked and popular it went with his name. Few enemies with suspects for that reason alone being few and far between….

Making it all the harder with no one having any reason to harm the CSI three who had done no wrong to anyone and anyone who had ever meant him any harm was safely behind bars Nigel Crane for one.

Every aspect of there colleagues live being delved into, bringing only more pain for those closest to him. Each derogative covered from all angles - they had missed nothing; the alternates having been checked and re-checked…..

With one thing a coincidence as such; but one which was to significant to overlook taking them back to the victims past his grass roots to Dallas and his family…

….That only six short months after the death of his father; who had been a high status district attorney on the Texas Supreme Courts, Nicky Stokes his youngest son was now missing.

Presumed to be dead; with evidence and science giving them nothing to disprove that and this link his only lead could mean everything or nothing…..

It was at that moment someone's warm touch halted Gil's thoughts, the touch was upon the hand which was still firmly placed over the file he looked up into a blue set of oceanic eyes what shone in them was what he himself felt as he now gripped that slender hand in his.

Linking them as he did so neither of them spoke; there hands now entwined over the file, his gaze shifted to the watch as it lay with all the other evidence then back to Catherine Willows.

The blue eyes gave him a look then like his followed to the name on the file; there colleagues name as there gaze once more met at that, the hand in his adding pressure at that moment he responded with that simple touch clasping Catherine's hand all the tighter.

His glance falling back on the strong women across from him; seeking refuge in her steady gaze; the blue eyes that had always held him firm and were now completely drawing him the heart ache he seen there and what they both knew the reality of which was now hitting home.

They had lost one of there own. The team left pushing itself to breaking point and beyond for him and they had not succeeded. They had failed him and the words that Greg had spoken hours ago, the hope he had given was now all but gone…..

* * *

_'It's not him'_

The tone gave away more than the words; Warrick Brown stood next to Gil Grissom the darkness was beginning to descend the rain which had been drizzle turned heavier at that moment. He did not move though, he forced his gaze downwards for a second looking at the features frozen in death.

A shudder went through him his gaze quickly moving elsewhere; to the lights of inner city Las Vegas which could be seen from here they flickered brightly through the rain and the darkness which was spreading onto this desolate, isolated area of what had once been the forefront of Vegas.

It was now the youth of today's playground the tainted earth and grassy turf showing the relics of that bygone era as his gaze swept back to the body which lay in the undergrowth concealed; was the victim of some other crime as the cop once more covered the still form.

He shivered his gaze unable to move from the covered form; and the raw fear which had clutched at him all the way here began to lift. It was not Nick Stokes body lying here in this forlorn spot. His gaze moved he drew in a breath, the rain continued to lash down.

Before he slowly turned to look to the man who stood beside him there gaze met; no words were need spoken between them at that moment. For this was the one thing they had dreaded more than anything for it had been the one thing, which they had all known was inevitable a body turning up….

His thoughts diverted at that his gaze remained where it was seeing what also shone in Gil Grissom eyes something which they were both aware off; that they had been lucky this time this might all happen again tomorrow and the next time they might not be so lucky the next time it could be Nick….

With that he once more looked at those lights of Las Vegas which stood out barbarically proud and strong in the distance trying to find some shred of hope. Yet there was none; with his colleague the man who had not only been his friend and fiercest competitor, Nick had been someone he had looked upon as a brother, a younger brother and that he could now be nothing or than dead…..

……..And it was the one thing which he was unwilling to accept and more to the point never would as his gaze stayed on the twinkling lights of the city; registering at that same moment Gil's voice and his words as he spoke now on the mobile phone the rain slackening a little the words were sharp and clear.

With Grissom passing this vital information on information that would go to Dallas; to the investigation opened there and to Nick's family but right now. It was to Catherine and to the woman who was staying with her, something which at any other time would have been unthinkable but circumstances had seen to that…..

His colleague being left with no option no one wanting her to be alone; during this time for she was the person going through the most, for she had been the individual closest to Nick Stokes – Sara Sidle.

* * *

_The locker room was peaceful_; only the occasional sound was heard of someone passing in the corridor outside Sara Sidle's dark starlight gaze fell on the empty locker. It had been Nick's locker and it had remained empty out of respect and because no one had the heart to give it to someone else or a new CSI someone who had not known Nicky Stokes….

A tear slid freely down her cheek at that thought; she did not stop it her hand falling to just below her stomach feeling the live growing there. This little live suffering the pain and turmoil which ran through her….

After that day of days three months ago and it was here in the locker room that Gil had broken the news to begin with; here where he himself had found out about them along with Greg and Catherine and it was here her world had fell apart.

The physical loss alone tearing her apart; the emotional pain wrenching her in those hours which followed where the hope of finding the man she loved with all her heart and soul alive steadily faded. Finding her self alone in a way she never had been before where the sun still rose and fell but Nick was no longer there…….

Her dark eyes closed another tear slid down her cheek thinking only of him; the man who had she let him would have went to the ends of the earth for her and in all the short time they had together Nick had given her what no else ever could…..

….Opening a door one she would never close; for it was something that came only once in a lifetime. Something that belonged only with the stars in the evening sky untouchable and endless and in all the time there relationship had they had loved a life times worth…..

Slowly she opened her eyes feeling the tears mingle on her cheeks; her hand falling a little lower as she felt the live within her stir and kick, a fresh tear slid down her cheek her thoughts slipping back to those initial hours…..

Nick's apartment the place which had become her second home a crime scene; and had remained as such for as long as it had took them to gather all that they could and it had been then when she had no where to go and going back to her own apartment had been quickly squashed that she had somehow ended up at Catherine's.

Where she had been unable to eat or sleep and the cold harsh dark reality had begun to sink in; exhaustion taking its toll on her with Catherine going through much the same as she was and though they had never been close before they had found a bond.

Supporting each other and Lindsey ; a girl who had idolised him and could not understand all that had happened and was like them also blaming her self in the one small part she had to play in that fatal day; with no amount of talking from Catherine changing her mind the girl feeling it had somehow been her responsibility.

Something they all had felt as her dark eyes closed; no longer looking at the locker. That she had not been there for him when he needed her most. The pain of that alone and that the man she loved was now to only belong in the past tense that he was to become but a memory to not only her but to all that had known him…..

Her thoughts broke off her dark eyes opened taking in the stillness of the locker room her hand coming up to too her top pocket bringing out the small black and white picture she sat it on her lap her finger gently tracing the image following the tiny head, arms and body of the baby which was growing within her womb.

A fresh tear slid down her cheek; her hand going back to where it had been resting there her thoughts turning inwards the surprise, disbelief and shock when this had come to light of its own accord, the strip turning blue only confirming what she had started to suspect.

That there blood now ran as one; there DNA combined into the most precious and greatest of gifts and she could not share this with him. To have seen his reaction the look across that handsome face and in those brown intense eyes; all that she herself had went through and that she could not put his hand to where hers was now to feel the live which was neutering there…

It broke her heart and that she now held the greatest of responsibilities one that she could not help feel, guilt over. That he had not been here to make this decision with her. With it being one thing they had never discussed; though he unlike her had always been the one for kids and she could not help but feel it would have been what he him self would have wanted….

Her thoughts trailed off; feeling the baby once more kick this time harder than before she winced slightly a smile also managing to tug across her features, the maternal instinct telling her it was his son she carried as the baby again kicked.

With the first time she had felt this baby stir as if trying to tell her something; had been the second time a body had turned up and like the first time. It had not been him.

Her hand slid back over the small bump with this live giving her something she had thought gone; something she had dared not think and that if he were truly dead how close they had become that she had not in some small way felt his passing……..

She looked up taking a deep breath; her thoughts changing as her gaze once more landed on the empty locker and that she could not hide in her work, it had only brought a new level of pain and the investigation opened in his name…..

The questions asked in those first desperate hours. Anything that would help, find him alive and find who was responsible and the agony that she could not do more. With them making no breakthroughs when it had mattered most.

Every part of his live being looked at; the trail in the end leading them back to where she hoped it would not for it brought only more anguish and pain, to what had happened in his childhood and the close nit family which he had drifted away from….

There investigation taking them to within the highest levels of the Texas Supreme Courts in the search for answers and to those who had been the enemies of Tom Stokes. With Nick being a pawn in someone else's game; a game which he had played no part in…..

…..With Gil and Catherine having been twice to Dallas and now three months on; they had a suspect someone with clear motive and someone who Nick would have known and this man could bring closure…..

Closure that she did not want as her hand fell again to just below her stomach; and that the only way she could get through each day was living with the not knowing. That he was missing; and if they found closure in Dallas it would only be to one end the man who she loved and forever would was dead……

She closed her eyes again her thoughts diverting; and that she had to be strong, that he would not have wanted her to look back or give up. For to do so would be to take away all the things Nick had loved about her from the first; and for the sake of this baby, there child with this little live depending on her for its every need….

The seed of there love with her body changing and developing along with this baby, growing within her womb and what up until now she had only shared with one person.

Though it was something she could no longer withhold; combined with her frequent mood swings and her diet which had caused some raised eyebrows.

She had somehow managed to keep this to herself as her hand swept back over the small bump the first sign's visible that she was three and a half months gone with his child. Something which his family in Dallas had the right to know; to his five sisters and his one brother who Nick had barely mentioned and more importantly to Nick's mother Grace Stokes…..

With yesterday being the first she had told anyone of this; to someone who she trusted, someone who Nick had worked with and someone they knew only in a professional sense. With it being Doc Robbins and maybe because he was not Gil, Catherine, Warrick, Greg or even Brass it had made it somehow easier and where after she had told him he had looked at her and in his quite manner told her one thing:

'He would have been proud Sara'

Slowly at that she opened her dark eyes again feeling tears on her cheeks; as she looked once more at the black and white picture on her lap her gaze remaining there for a long moment before she tucked the picture safely back in her pocket her head lifting to look at the empty locker.

Trying to gather her thoughts at that same moment; she stood up the palm of her hand touching the empty locker her thoughts turning inwards once more, his name now only to be found on file, listed as a missing person…..

His fawn jacket and mobile phone returned to her no longer needed as part of the investigation, his black watch remaining as evidence; and his apartment which had not been touched since but could not remain so for much longer. All that she had left of him; the good strong man who was the father of her yet unborn child.

Her hand fell from the locker her hand wiping away the tears the moments they had shared; his love which had enveloped her. The look in those brown warm eyes whenever she had sung; his enthusiasm and that stubborn determination as her head lifted taking in the half light of the locker room. A smile coming to her features remembering him as he had been….

The live which had been so much part of him; surrounding her in every way, with Las Vegas there playground Nick showing her it in all its glory; the mountains there sanctuary and where they had so often went paragliding Nick teasing her non stop, coaching her like a true professional and where he had been in his element…

Her smile faded her dark eyes closed and that she could no longer feel his touch; to be in his arms; and when he had danced with her, where it had felt like they were the only two people on earth. The contact of it alone where he had waltzed her round; the brown eyes looking deep into her own it lay beyond anything ….

…..Touching her heart and soul to the very depths of her being and it belonged only with him; the man who she loved whose heart was one with hers and that she did not know whether he still breathed, whether that heart of his still beat…..

Her dark eyes opened she drew in a breath unable to think of him in that way; for him to be dead and that she had to somehow face this cruel world without him; and the love which had come from his heart and soul, which had encircled her and had touched every part of her was somehow not gone it lay personified and rooted in the live; which grew beneath her own heart…..

As she looked one last time at the empty locker blinking away the tears her hand for a moment slipping back to just below her stomach before slowly turning walking out into the busy brightly lit corridor she followed the passage; her head lifting as she came to a halt the corridor going on as she now turned sharply to her left facing another longer corridor it was quieter.

Her gaze falling at that to Gil Grissom's office at the end of the long corridor which swung of to its right after that; the office was all dark and what she had been expecting as she gathered her pace. Following the tiled floor again she came to a halt a little down the long corridor she was on, turning to face the room which was on her right hand side.

They were there getting ready for the start of shift as her gaze stayed on her two colleagues who sat across from each other at the main table in that room, there hands linked over the table and who had not seen her yet .

As she stayed for a moment more her hand on the handle of the door and though neither of them had given anything away; she like Warrick had seen how close they had become in these few months.

How much they now relied on each other and what was there in there eyes something which neither of them could hide and for what it was for it was what she shared with Nick and now lay in her heart; as her thoughts turned to a different day when he had stood by her side at this same door….

As she now clicked open the door; walking forward she turned there way grinning there hands no longer linked there conversation having ended up on her entering; as she went over to the fridge first looking carefully at its contents before reaching for the beef sandwich and the carton of juice feeling a hunger pang at that same moment.

Taking both she went over to the main table taking the seat at the end; between both Gil and Catherine who sat to her right the person and who she was still staying with. As she looked Catherine's way with it being Catherine Nick would have told to first; what she was about to tell them both.

With them both waiting on her to speak she did not say anything; instead for a moment she looked around her with it being here in this room. This most important of places where everything major was discussed both formal and informal.

Here where they had all shared so many moments; and more importantly where Greg had spoken those words of Nick being alive and it should be here now in this moment that she should tell them of this….

As she felt the live which lay protected and safe within her own womb once more kick as if in answer; as she looked once more between Grissom and Catherine and for whatever else was to come. Whatever the outcome in Dallas; this would change all there lives in the way in which Nicky Stokes touched hers as she found her voice……

TO BE CONTINUED

P.S Is this any good? & also before anyone clobbers me over Nick's family, investigation & what happened to Nick its all coming in the next chapter!!!!!


	4. Absolution

Hanging by a Moment

- Absolution (Part Two off Free Falling)

Chapter Four

Author: Jen

Note: These characters don't belong to me, I only borrowed them again & I knew this had to be a corker of a chapter before I even started this story is not finished but I feel I had to put up what I have, for a billion tiny reasons.

I was simply inspired & this story deserves to be shared even though I'm just one tiny voice. & I am only now half roads (ironic) but I would never the less somehow like to continue this story for the other half is still there.

Only other thing as they nicked my second chapter's name I'll go for the season thing assume nothing with this chapter, for there is more to it than meets the eye! & the other part of it, for its not complete chapter either, will be at beginning of next chapter! For I got to keep going, this story happened for some reason!!!!

N/S & G/C this chapter is handed over to Gil & Catherine, for Nick could not tell this part of story & no matter what ship please read; this is one for everyone though it's not a complete story yet but I got to continue!

All I ever wanted was to capture the heart & soul of something if I came anywhere near close I'll be happy and this story just grew and its still there so I'm going with my heart and what faith I have left and say I will finish what I have started please read & make of it what you will, what I have here is what I was going to write anyway & what I seen while watching this great show….

PLEASE READ & ENJOY

Major angst done in flashback & thanks to everyone who replied last time, it makes it all worthwhile & this story just had to be told!

* * *

The snow covered mountains rose sharply in the near distance; the arbour an enclave onto those Rocky Mountains was deathly quite. The only sound to be heard was the vultures high above. They watched intently; over the still form which lay unmoving there. The rising sun hit the mountains.

Dawn light at that moment etched across the arbour; blood trickled onto the dark earth. The live was hanging by a moment; as the vultures above began to descend. Death lay near and the live which clung onto the last shreds of life. Lay far from where; that live itself had been sown…..

It is a rich ambivalent land the Indians the first to rule it; with agriculture and cotton trade bringing its first wealth. With the oil fields found later in abundance; would utilise the land and bring more people to the fertile plains.

To the state which is Texas the land of opportunity; which lies deep in the heart of the southern United States having borders with Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico to its west, Mexico to its south west and the gulf of Mexico where water meets land at its south east edge.

The name itself - Texas; is derived from the Spanish who called it Tejas meaning "friends". It is also the lone star state; aptly named after the single star which adorns its flag and Dallas with its foothills lies in the North East of the state is the second largest city in Texas after Houston.

It was first settled by whites in 1841 its growth slow until the coming of the railroad in 1873; its cowboy culture by that time made and by the 1890's it was the largest city in Texas. Stokes was also by that time; a well known surname in and around Dallas…

A city which today is the eighth largest in the United States; vast to look at its sky scrapers landmarks in themselves, with Dallas now a city as much known for commerce and architecture. As the oil fields and cowboys which had helped build it; and for Gil Grissom there was only one other thing out with what had brought him here, that he could connect with the city of Dallas….

Something he remembered well and something that he could not help drawing parallels with; for it was something which was to go down as one of the darkest moments in American history and Dallas.

The assassination of John F. Kennedy on the 22nd November 1963; that grassy knoll, Lee Harvey Oswald, the controversy and all which surrounded what happened on that day and what was also forever tied with the Kennedy name….

With that date the 22nd of November now of further significance to him for it was the date when this investigation was opened for the first and his colleague Nicky Stokes. The CSI three who had worked under him; became listed as a missing person and where he now stood in these crime labs on the east side of Dallas not far from the Cotton Bowl, was where Nick himself had started his career as a CSI……

These labs being Nick's home for a year; before he had moved to Las Vegas and it was here in these labs where all which had been felt in Las Vegas had been mirrored; and the home where Nick had grown up and spent the first twenty-seven years of his live…..

Lay only a few miles from where he was now; a home which he had visited with Catherine and this investigation in his name. Where they had drawn nothing but blanks from the onset. Had in every way possible painfully driven one thing home to him; how little he had actually known about the young man who had worked under him….

* * *

His blue eyes opened.

For a second; he listened to Catherine Willows steady sure voice, as his eyes took a moment to re-adjust them selves to the little light there was in this darkened room.

As his gaze came to rest on the all important official A4 document he held in his hand; and the name scrolled in red. His hand at that moment tightening its grip on the missing person file, its documentation; and that it enclosed every detail of his colleagues live…..

…..With what he had known beforehand only being underlined; but it was what it held over and above. Plus the further background and knowledge he now held with that; and the individual, the person concerned was someone he knew and that he now in context understood every detail of that person's live:

Nick being the youngest of seven; his charismatic colleague having come from a middle class, well schooled, Texan hard working background; and that background the foundations, which had been interwoven into his live from the very beginning, had come through in everything Nick had done….

…..Entrenched in its own way by his parents the late Tom Stokes a district attorney and Grace Stokes a public defender; they had met. Married young; and had been happily married for forty-five years. There children who had soon followed five brunette daughters and two sons all coming at more or less two year intervals.

The only exception being Nick the baby of the Stokes family; with a gap of five years between Nick and Neve Stokes the youngest of his five sisters, a sister who had been his closest playmate in his early years and that marginal gap would later prove crucial.

In what would impact Nick's live like no other; with what had been imprinted onto his live from the start. Something which had made an impression long before anything else; for it had been part of him and part of his upbringing and ran deep in the Stokes blood and had done so for generations….

Law and Justice; and that Nick had essentially known no other live…..

His character a reflection of that and compared to the rest of his siblings Nick had always had a mind of his own; Nick not being one to stick to the straight and narrow and from the moment he had been able to walk, had been continuously landing himself in trouble in one way or other……

Something which had not changed with years, and that the young Nicky Stokes forever having the habit of getting under his sisters toes; or getting in one scrape of other which deserved there attention and along with it Nick had always been that little bit different something which Nick's mother had been only to glad to tell him…..

A mother who Nick took much after and that her youngest son her last child, of all her children had been her favourite; with Grace Stokes who from that first moment he had met her on his first visit here to Dallas had left him touched.

Not only in her personality; and that she was strong, it was something that came across without words and could be seen in her fine features; auburn brown hair, which was almost grey and the same soft brown eyes which her youngest son had inherited from her; and those brown eyes that that first time, he could hardly bring his own gaze to meet for that same reason…..

With Grace Stokes in someway also somehow reminding him both of Catherine and Sara, proud and spirited; and who so soon after the loss of her husband was now suffering the loss of her youngest son, a son thought to be dead and that son….

The most vulnerable of all her children; was a son who already in a different way been lost to her. Once at the age of nine; then again when he had moved from Dallas to Las Vegas and now in the cruellest of ways she had lost him completely and strong though she was he could see she had taken it hard……

Slowly his gaze swept to Catherine at that thought; as Catherine's blue ocean eyes lifted for a brief moment to look into his.

They shared a look.

One that needed no words as he lost himself there in those blue depths; before there gaze parted, his own gaze at that moment once more returning to the A4 file in his hand as the man who sat directly across from the red-head finely spoke…..

He took in the words as his thoughts once more turned back to where they had been…..

His gaze falling back on Catherine at that moment and to what Grace Stokes had told him of her late husband Tom Stokes the person who had been the centre of her live; and who Nick had taken much after, more so than he had ever known….

The handsome set features, the serious nature, his determination, the skills that had made Nick the CSI he had been, skill's which had been his fathers also; and had taken Tom Stokes to the highest level of the Texas Supreme courts.

With Nick's father being one of the most loyal and trustworthy district attorneys in the state of Texas; and was something which had made his name, like his father before him the grandfather who Nick had been named after….

…And what went it, something irretrievably passed from one generation to the next; Nick being no exception for it seemed to surround the Stokes name, a name which was familiar to anyone's ears in this part of Texas….

For it went hand in hand with what the Stokes blood was steeped in law and justice; something which was an enigma in itself and what Tom Stokes had taught each of his children well for it had been the stronghold of there live…

….Popular and well liked being what also came with the name and the qualities which had shone in Nick; and what had made him altogether unique from the rest of his siblings that Tom Stokes youngest son had ended up going against the grain of his forefathers…

Nick not following in his father's footsteps or his brother; a brother who ten years older than Nick was poles apart. The first born son and acted as such; with Ryan Stokes like his father a powerful district attorney in his own right and that Nick had from childhood played second fiddle to his older more confident brother…..

The words had now stopped; his thoughts also for a moment.

As the man across from Catherine turned and looked his way there gaze met for a moment; before the man's features turned to a vicious smile he ignored it. As Catherine once more spoke her soft tone rising.

He focused on her words as his thoughts turned inwards.

To what Nick had for reasons that he could well understand not told him after the Wilkinson case; where at that point on that shift which had followed. They had in one way or other managed to sort things out…..

….His treatment of the CSI three being no better then than it had been at any other time and although he had essentially got Nick to talk to some degree; he had sensed there had been more to it than what Nick had told him, he had left it be though not pushing him any further…..

Nick giving him picture enough at the time over his father and though the CSI three had not said too much else; he had nonetheless known by the clear emotion in Nick's voice how close his family was and it was something which was now all the more clearer……

With what had been the footnote in Nick's live.

Something which had shaped it like no other and had done more damage than anything; and had quickly come to light on the opening of this case for it was part of the pro-forma, that he had been a victim once long before…..

The details of it needing no expansion his official file giving him enough - more than enough and that that one defining moment; had influenced and shaped Nick's every choice from then on. Scaring him for live; and that it had done so in more ways than one and he could only imagine how Nick must have felt…..

Not only robbing an innocent nine year old of his childhood and physically scaring him; the emotional scars which went with it. The ones which had lasted ran deeper - far deeper.

With all that Nick had been brought up and taught to believe in letting him down.

His father along with it; Nick blaming the only person he could and for reasons that he could well understand and that it had been. Something that neither father nor son had recovered from; with the gulf between Tom Stokes and his youngest son only growing with the years……

Nick in the end causing more pain and anguish than the rest of his siblings put together; and that he had throughout his adolescent years played on a knife edge. With his other choices the ones which had followed him from boyhood to manhood.

Which had caused the most concern; that revolving door reputation with women something which had escalated in his college years and his choice in career more than anything. In comparison to his sisters and brother; who had all stuck to within the courts of the law…..

….Nick had irrepressibly on the other hand gone for a career on the frontline, directly in the line of fire. With that choice one that would eventually also lead to him becoming a CSI being one of the final blows to Tom Stokes; Nick forging his own path…..

And that it had been notably his younger colleague's first major dice with death; which was in the end, to be what had been the final twist. That would eventually send Nick his way to Las Vegas.

With his colleague relenting to some extent to his parent's wishes by compromising becoming a CSI; and it had been then, at that point. That Nick had turned into a defiant son.

Drifting away from his close nit family and turning his back on Tom Stokes; with Nick's last year in Dallas not being a happy one, before fate stepped in. His colleague taking it by transferring; Nick in the end adding one last insult, one which had struck deep…..

Leaving Dallas and his family home to see beyond Texas; and that by doing so Nick had let his father down in every way possible and the last part, what had been hardest on his colleague, was something. That Nick had told him in his own way; and that he now had the complete picture to go with that, with what Grace Stokes and more importantly Sara.

Sara being the one closest to Nick…..

That his sensitive colleague had been through more than most; as his gaze lifted at that to observe the man, there suspect, who sat across from Catherine. As he now drew up beside the red-head; lightly touching Catherine's shoulder as that same moment…….

As Catherine's sure voice stopped in mid-sentence.

With that touch as he now carefully placed the missing person file that he had held in his hand. On the desk before him as the man who sat across from Catherine gaze fell on that file and then on him; he remained standing though.

As Catherine's gaze which like the suspects had been on the file which lay before him swept back to where it had been; to there prime suspect. Catherine blue eyes coming back at that; to once more look into his as her professional tone rang out, continuing the question as his own gaze remained firmly on the suspect and that his only lead.

His only breakthrough in this case had, lead him to this.

To Nick's late father; his district attorney background and to those who had been his enemies and the one other thing. Something that had cut deep on all fronts; that this suspect was tied in with Nick's past, to what had happened in his childhood and that this man's name lay within Nick's own file…..

Plus the further fact for it was something which had marked and defined this case, from the start and something unfamiliar to him Gil Grissom; that it was neither science nor theory which had got them to where they were now.

A place that he did not want to be…..

And the science which was his live, had already spoken; on that crime scene.

Nick's apartment which had given them nothing, the fingerprints being the victims and that there was no real physical evidence; only blood, Nick's blood …..

And all he had over and above was one thing and one thing alone – circumstance. With what he had used time and again to solve; to find the pieces, to theories, the evidence was not there. Science being of no use to him and that his only one true piece of evidence.

Was what lay in front of there suspect now; Nick's watch.

His only link left to the victim; and to the crime and where after they had turned over every stone in Las Vegas; his only lead that six months after his father's death.

Nicholas Stokes.

Tom Stokes youngest son; a son who had managed to escape all that went with his family name was missing and that this was all somehow linked to his father, who had been one of the most powerful district attorneys in this state…..

As the cold voice of there suspect once more spoke; in answer to Catherine as his gaze again fell at that moment on the woman beside him.

With Catherine's blue eyes for the current moment not looking his way; her gaze instead on the man across from her.

He looked for a moment between the two.

His colleague and there suspect; and then to what shone in Catherine's blue ocean eyes, something that she could not hide and something which right at this moment was all the more visible across her delicate features…..

It was a look of heartache; and along with it there was also a look of fury infused in those cool blue eyes that were boring into the man across from her and though Catherine the woman who was his second in command.

Was strong; something he had never doubted he knew more than anyone how close she had been to Nick; and more importantly that Nick had been there for her in the way that he had not been.

The CSI three being a lynch pin to her; and that like what Sara was to him, his light of day. Nick had been to Catherine; and that light was now gone and that the person who did not doubt and who did not look back did…

And that no talking on his part or anyone else's could take away what lay in those blue eyes it trans-felled everything; and the fact Catherine had always looked upon Nick as a son….

As the blue eyes of his colleague once more fell on him as though she had been reading his very thoughts……

He returned the look; as Catherine's ocean blue eyes softened.

There gaze remaining temporarily locked on each other.

His heart quickened.

The blue eyes flared at him; before turning back to where they had been.

As he now took the seat beside Catherine. His gaze now also level with the suspects as he turned; to once more look into those blue pools and what was also there in those blue depths, for it was something which gripped his heart and soul ……

For it was something which had been there in every part of there professional relationship, for it was what underlay it; only now it was free and the line which for so long had been drawn between them had finely ceased to exist….

With what he had long denied Catherine; being all that in these last three months since that fatal day which had made any sense and that this strong independent women who was his second in command, Catherine Willows was the only one who was ever able to get him to lift his head away from the microscope….

To look at the world around him; and that Catherine was his strength, his bridge to that world that more often than not he tried to ignore.

Yet there was more and it belonged only with her; her vibrancy and sparkle and that Catherine dazzled him in a way no other woman could and along with it that certain way she had of holding her own ….

And the woman underneath; the woman who he had always admired a mother first and foremost, a single parent being there for Lindsey supporting her and being there; now in that same way for Sara a way that neither he nor Warrick could and though she had never spoken it.

He knew the burden which Catherine carried.

One that he could not shoulder for her yet it was one, they shared; for in his own way he carried that same burden in a different way and that Catherine had been the first to arrive at that crime scene……

As his thoughts once more changed; coming back to the present as his gaze rested on Catherine.

To the news that Sara had just given a matter of days ago; something which in itself seemed to deify logic, to go against the odds, and were it not for the seriousness of the circumstances. It was also in some unfathomable way; typical of Nick.

With that most important of news being passed on to his family and to the man who they were now questioning; and if he were needing any further testimony to how strong Sara was, to how she had found the strength and courage to get through these last few months; then the look in her dark eyes when she had told him and Catherine had been more than enough….

…..And those words of Sara's had only confirmed something further; something he had known, even from the first moment in those locker rooms. When he had found out about them; along with Catherine and Greg for it was something he had played against….

Nick baring the brunt of it; that he did approve of the relationship between them and Nick had been the one to give Sara live out with her work, the live she deserved and more. Nick being close to Sara in a way; neither he nor anyone else ever had been or would be and though he worried for her safety; his colleague with tear filled eyes had already answered that for him.

That who ever were, responsible had already got what they wanted; and that there was now one more victim in this. A life which was completely innocent; a live of an unborn child and how much, the live, the baby to which Sara carried meant…..

As his; thoughts halted.

His steal gaze coming to look; the man who was there suspect directly in the eye.

And though they had been here before; for Tom Stokes had been a man of high standing and power he was all too aware that Nick would have known better than he ever was likely to…..

Those who had been the enemies of his father; and if anything Nick had confirmed that for him with his own words after the Wilkinson Case where the CSI three in the gentlest of tones, had told him one thing:

'He had enemies Grissom'

Plus if he were to read any more into those words; it had been the look across Nick's features and in those soft brown eyes at that moment and the fact he had felt Nick had been speaking more to himself than to him.

At that precise moment, when those words had slipped out, as his thoughts now caved; and this investigation in his name which had brought him here to Dallas to where Nick had grown up, was not only a missing person's case, it was in essence a murder inquiry…..

And it was his colleagues live …..

As the grey depthless eyes of there suspect continued to look into his.

There gaze remained fixed.

With this man; there prime suspect. Being someone that he Gil Grissom; had every reason to suspect…...

An ally of Tom Stokes; a district attorney, a close friends of the Stokes family and had been so for years and someone who had known Nick far longer than him and this man whose gaze was set upon him; would be nothing more than a vaguely familiar face to Nick….

As Matthew Garrett's gaze switched back off him.

Onto Catherine; whose slender hand for a moment came to rest on his, as Catherine's professional tone, lost its edge:

'You were the reason why he lost the case'

There was a moment's silence then an answer:

'It was over twenty years ago'

Catherine's warm touch left his; it was his cue as Matthew Garrett's gaze slid back of the red-head, as he now spoke carrying on from where Catherine had left off:

'You were there though'

The man across from him twitched slightly at that, the grey transparent eyes continued to look into his; as his tone became harsher:

'It was your friend's son'

Matthew Garrett's gaze stayed on him, the words this time having had no impact as; he continued his eyes narrowing:

'It made no difference though did it?'

The grey eyes locked with his at that moment the tone emotionless:

'Tom Stokes would have lost either way and there was justice only not in Dallas'

Matthew Garrett fell silent; the deep grey eyes looked dead ahead.

Catherine's gaze found his.

She was thinking the same thought; as there gaze remained on each other and that, there was a small bitter grain of truth in those words….

Their own enquiry having already been down that line; and the woman who had marked Nick's live so long ago. Was like Nigel Crane safely behind bars; and the justice which should have been given years earlier, had finely prevailed not on American soil but over the border in Canada; and it had been years too late…..

…..When the system; had finely caught up with Josephine Wallace and that Nick had been one of her first victims. With those details, minimal as they were gave, only more anguish; and combined with it. That Matthew Garrett's name had first cropped up at that point, within Nick's records on the case to which Tom Stokes should have won…..

As Catherine once more spoke the tone sharply even:

'You played the law at its own game; the guilty party got of the hook, innocents suffered for it and it was not the first or last time you would do the same thing'

Catherine Willows looked at the man across from her.

His gaze was on her; she did not waver under the look though as she now heard Gil Grissom's tone heighten; as he followed her up with his own words:

'Nicky Stokes was only a means to an end even then'

The grey eyes rested on her.

Gil's words not even tainting the, look in those grey depths and that Matthew Garrett reminded her of one individual and one man; Sam Braun…..

And it lay not only in the cool veneer, charm or the power which yielded from those grey depthless eyes that were looking into hers. It was the fact that Matthew Garrett was made of the same mould and type, and it was the type she knew well……

As Gil's steal gaze at that moment came to rest on her; they shared a look. One that went beyond any spoken word with; there being an unspoken gesture in that look, it was a lifeline to her as she drew strength from that gaze…..

Before she turned to once more look at the stern handsome features of Matthew Garrett the grey eyes deflected her cool glare; and unlike the man who was at her side, this man was of a different calibre from Gil.

A calibre that had been used ruthlessly; and had worked in his favour with Matthew Garrett, bringing justice winningly when it suited him and the cool set ways which were apparent right at this moment.

Had made him one of toughest district attorneys in Texas and a trusted one; trust which had been abused as her gaze fell. To what lay between her and the man across from her, Nick's watch; as her blue eyes rested on the cracked face and the aluminous dials.

She drew in a breath for a moment closing her eyes; and that Matthew Garrett had not once looked at the black watch which lay between them, as her gaze now slowly lifted at that to once more look in those grey translucent eyes.

Which penetrated her own as she studied him carefully; her gaze then falling back for a moment on her colleague with there suspect; being five years older than Grissom as she now looked Gil's way to the handsome set features.

With Matthew Garrett being of the same height as her colleague but of a more muscular build and unlike her colleague this man was married but had no children and like Nick's father had been. He was a high status district attorney; as Gil's gaze once more found hers the look a serious one she returned it.

Her voice striking out at that moment:

'It was not the only time you meddled in his live'

The words hit the mark as the grey eyes hit her with a glare:

'His choice I only got his foot in the door'

There gaze met; the grey eyes once more challenging her she did not take the bait though instead it was Gil's voice which sprung back following her line of thought…..for it was something which they were both aware off; the part to which this man had played in Nick's live:

'You were well aware though how much it meant to him becoming a cop'

The head lifted; in answer, dilute silence descended.

Her gaze at that falling back to where it had been to the watch which lay concealed safely in its sealed packet; and then to what was directly in front of her…..

The palm of her hand touching a statement, her thoughts turning inwards at that moment; and that they had at every turn of there investigation been a step behind, evidence being thin on the ground with there trail there only lead, inevitably leading them, to Nick's family and his father and the one other fact…..

Something that had not escaped her; the crime scene alone telling them that much, that it had been a hit, an inside job by someone who worked within the law and the further fact something they were sure of that Nick had known his assailant……

Her blue eyes fell on Gil at that thought.

The look in the deep blue eyes holding her for a moment; her heart beating a little faster under that intense gaze which was now at this moment, solely directed her way as her thoughts delved her gaze once more falling on there suspect.

A man whose name had come up far earlier but had not been suspected; his name coming up as a matter of form in Nick's records and that there had been no reason to question him his original statement which her hand lay upon being enough….

As her gaze once more fell back on Gil; and the look in those blue expressive eyes which were now focused on there suspect and scientist though he was. She knew the individual behind that. The person who they had all fallen back on; the support to which they had all turned to…..

……With what had always lain dormant between the two of them; taking root, forging itself and that, they now relied on each other in a whole new way, one which completed her and belonged only with him. The man who was there to watch her back and she his and compared to those who had gone before him what lay between them was something untouchable …..

Her thoughts began to drift at that, her heart once more beating a little faster and that they had informed no one of this…...

As her gaze rested for a long moment on her colleague; taking in at the same time the look which was etched across the strong handsome features. Her thoughts changing once more and to what was there in Gil's eyes …..

That it was one of there own.

A live now gone from them; his name listed along with countless others as a missing person and they had come here, now to Dallas…..

To bring closure; and to find answer's to this puzzle.

A puzzle which until now had lead, them to nothing but dead ends…..

His family asking all the same questions they had asked with the nitpickings what little Nick had told her of his family; gaining deeper meaning and Tom Stokes the father who Nick had never been close to. Had not only been a district attorney that he had reached the top of his profession before his death.

Being Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Courts, and that reason alone had given them suspects enough…..

Suspects that had slowly been diminished; and that they had been looking for someone with intent, access and motive enough to harm Nick. The range of there investigation broadening to those less obvious; with it being at that point that Matthew Garrett had first been questioned…..

With it being only now.

That something they had not been aware of then; had come to light and that it had come from an unlikely source. From the son who had followed directly in his fathers footsteps, from Ryan Stokes…..

Someone who they themselves had not put beyond the finger of suspicion; for the simple reason he was of a completely different mould from Nick in more ways than one and that for brothers. They had been nothing alike; and it was something she had seen clearly from the first moment she had laid eyes upon him…..

Plus the further fact Ryan Stokes who held all that went with his family name; had been elected by the Texas Supreme Courts to be his father's successor. As her gaze shifted back to Matthew Garrett at that thought; and that the Garrett name like the Stokes name had been entwined with the law and this part of Texas for decades…..

As she now carefully picked her words, changing the tact of there interrogation and at the same time following through on Grissom's last comment:

'Nick was not aware of the part you played years earlier; but his opinion of you did not change and he was not the only one who felt the same way. For it was one of the few things as brothers; they did agree upon.'

She fell silent letting the words hang in the air for a moment as Matthew Garrett's features turning into a twisted smile. The body language telling her enough; as her gaze now drifted slowly to her colleague.

The blue eyes seeming to look through her for a moment as she seen the jaw tighten and the blue eyes darken as Gil glanced her way. The look telling her enough; as Grissom's clear cut tone filled the air extending on her words:

'They shared little in common but there opinion of you was the same'

He paused for a moment at that; sensing Catherine's direct gaze as his tone now darkened merging the facts which they knew together and picking up at the same time the pace of there interrogation.

His thoughts thinking only of the victim, as he spoke:

'But your friendship with there father Tom Stokes; went back a long time and it was pivotal. For you had shared history which went back generations'

The grey eyes glinted into his as Catherine's tone hit with equal intensity her words the catalyst to his:

'You had his trust and it was something you played to your advantage'

Her words had made no impression the smile was still across the stern handsome features that were Matthew Garrett's. With Gil's gaze like her own set on the suspect's; as her colleague once more, spoke the tone like ice with Grissom's words being the all important ones:

'For he was your enemy Garrett and his death was to give you an opportunity.'

The smile which had been there previously was now gone. His gaze met Matthew Garrett's. As he drove the point home; looping in at that moment something of significance to them:

'It was an opportunity which was then taken from you; in the same fashion as it had been once before.'

Matthew Garrett shifted slightly to those words but the look in the eyes remained the same. As his tone now sharpened circling closer to his point:

'His oldest son succeeded him two months later in the Texas Supreme Courts and from that moment on the tide was turned.'

He paused once more; deliberately letting the words hang.

Before continuing; and that it was his words now at this moment which were all the more crucial and significant for they involved Nick:

'For you knew then it would sooner or later come to light what you had got away with and for the second time you had lost out in winning presidency over the Texas Supreme Courts'

He stopped.

The latter part of his sentence carrying its own weight; with the other half being something they now had hard evidence off. For it had taken them to within the highest levels of the Texas supreme courts; and that Matthew Garrett had committed treason and perjury of the highest order……

…….In cases all across the board; including child abuse with Tom Stokes case for his youngest son years earlier. Being one among countless others; which had fallen prey to this mans injustice and that it was only now. This information had come to light….

Ryan Stokes digging the dirt on the man who had been his father's friend and ally…

With there being one more edge, coming along with that and one which they had no power over. For it was protocol; with that sensitive data, coming under the media's speculative eye and this part of it.

The part which involved Nick now; had stayed out the media circus….

As his gaze fell without thinking to the black watch, as he drew in a breath his thoughts spiralling; looking at the dried in blood on the black strap of the watch. His thoughts changing completely at that moment and that there was more to it…

…. For it was what made it all the more harder, for it was one thing he was certain off; that Matthew Garrett had clear motive to harm Nick. As he tried to keep his tone level, his gaze lifting of the black watch voicing that motive:

'You lost out twice to the Stokes name; in a position which would have given you free reign'

Catherine's voice at that moment cutting in before his:

'And it was personal you were after blood'

There was no response to those words; the grey impermeable eyes remained resolute.

As his gaze fell once more to the black watch his gaze resting there; and what made it all the more crueller as his voice struck out again at that moment:

'Nick played no part in this'

The tone itself gave the gravity which lay in those words; however it was the look on Gil's set features at this moment which hit the hardest as her, own voice drifted across to Matthew Garrett whose gaze was back on her:

'He was an easy target but that was only a small part of it'

She stopped not going any further; her gaze at that moment shifting to the man beside her, as his blue eyes slowly lifted from the watch. In answer to Catherine's words; his gaze falling for a moment on Matthew Garrett and then to the woman at his side….

It needed no words.

As there gaze held. With the look which Gil was now sending her; being her only strength as she now forced herself on. Her gaze falling to where Gil's had been moments before; and to all that one small piece of evidence meant to them as she at last spoke:

'Nick was his father's son and you knew the impact it would have'

Catherine's soft tone rang with emotion as those words filled the air. His colleague saying no more as his gaze once more found that of the strong women beside him. They shared a look; a look which gripped his heart.

Before his gaze shifted back to Matthew Garrett; whose grey eyes had darkened in response to those words, the features now taunt. It told him enough…..

As he now cut to the chase.

Looking at what also lay in front of Catherine; there suspect's previous statement and what Catherine had earlier punched holes through. As he now picked up on that fact.

Looking Garrett direct in the eye at the same time; his thoughts turning back to the victim in that moment:

'Your alibi warranted no further questions at the time there was no reason too; for you come often to Las Vegas for judicial purposes'

He stopped letting the woman beside him follow through as Catherine once more spoke:

'Only there was a defining difference this time.'

Her eyes closed she, drew in a deep breath before continuing feeling her voice catch:

'You came to Las Vegas for a purpose, the purpose was Nick. It was why you stayed in the Stratosphere Hotel. It put you in a closer vicinity to the victim; and it was why you checked out on the 22nd'

His gaze stayed on Garrett; as he felt Catherine's gentle touch. With the features of the man across from him now giving him a vicious smile, the same smile he had received earlier as Garrett replied playing back of there words:

'You and your colleague have nothing more than you have stated and there is no forensic evidence'

The grey eyes shifted between them at that moment taunting them; as Gil's gaze at that moment locked once more with the suspects before looking her way. She could feel the increased tension; and the handsome features of her colleague whose gaze was again on her had now hardened the blue eyes dark.

She knew the look and what went with it; as Gil now laid the photo, which had been sitting face down, at her left hand side between them in front of Garrett.

It was evidence proving one thing that he had lied in his previous statement; and backing up along with it what she had covered in the earlier part of this interrogation.

As Gil's flat tone at that moment filled the darkened room:

'Forensically they were not meant, to be anything'

The grey eyes darkened again as his gaze stayed on there suspect:

'It was an inside job of the highest degree; and you seen to it yourself'

His voice faltered the palm of his hand coming at that moment to lie upon the missing person file in front of him; and the fact Matthew Garrett was more than capable of what they were accusing him off…..

With there being no reaction to what he had just sat down in front of him something that had come from there own labs and tied in also, with the time from when Nick had last been seen alive; as his tone hit a new intensity:

'On the morning in question Las Vegas Surveillance Cameras have you within two blocks of the victim's apartment at 10.30am. It's your vehicle.'

Catherine's gaze locked with his, at that moment as he continued:

'And it puts you in the time frame.'

There was no immediate answer she could feel the man beside her tense up; and the fact that they were hanging by a moment on Matthew Garrett's next words as the grey eyes once more gave her a penetrating look as her own thoughts found voice:

'There are allegations of a different sort; serious ones'

The grey eyes sent her a glare she ignored the look as her blue eyes fell again on Gil before turning back:

'You're going down and the youngest son of the man who was your friend and ally. Is missing, likely to be dead; and the evidence suggests that you are responsible Garrett.'

Catherine blue eyes flared and that she had put into words what he had been unable to say; as his gaze swept back to Garrett at that same moment drawing the photo at the front of the missing person file out placing it beside the black watch, as he added his own comment:

'He was an innocent in this'

The grey eyes met his at that moment; and the feeling of uneasiness which had been there from the very start of this interrogation grew as Matthew Garrett's rugged Texan accent filled the air, the tone cold as the grey eyes fell to the picture a thin smile coming across the features:

'Then you have what you came here for; with your own words Gil Grissom.'

The smile broadened, the voice struck out again:

'For he was a Stokes'

Garrett's gaze lifted from the photo in that moment, the grey eyes coming to look into, hers; the look sent a chill through her. As Matthew Garrett's gaze fell again to the photo the tone deadly; pulling on the factor that neither of them could deny:

'But you lack one thing; and without it you have no closure or certainty'

The words hung in the air, stagnant as her gaze locked with Gil; they shared a look, as the Texan accent now struck out dagger like:

'And it's the one thing you will not find.'

There was a moment of dead silence.

She felt the man beside her wince, to what Garrett was referring too.

As her gaze fell at that moment to the photo in front of her; her blue eyes taking in all, that image showed before her eyes closed…..

Aware of what Matthew Garrett had just given them an admission off; and to what he was not going to tell them. As her blue eyes slowly opened the picture coming sharply back into focus……

With Gil's voice at that moment filling the silent void in a tone she had not heard before:

'There is always something left to find Garrett'

The man across from her made no move to answer.

Her gaze again taking in the calm controlled look as she looked once more directly into the grey eyes this time studying him closer as something registered with her; as she continued to gaze into those grey eyes. Her gaze automatically falling; to the photo directly in front of Garrett - Nick's photo……

Before once more looking up taking in Matthew Garrett's posture; and what her instincts were telling her for it was her area of expertise, as she took in his demeanour and body language. That he was not lying; but it did not change the fact, that no part of her could accept his words ….

As she tried to pull her thoughts and emotions together; her gaze shifting to Gil and the look in those deep blue pools, her gaze falling once more to the photo. As she now asked the question she had hung back from asking, deliberately picking this moment to voice it:

'When did you last speak to Nick?'

The tone alone was enough to shift his gaze of Garrett to Catherine, whose blue ocean eyes shone clear with the woman beside him, once more changing the angle of there interrogation, in the way only Catherine knew how.

As he continued to look at Catherine for a moment, the blue eyes holding his as he quietly acknowledged at the same time of what she was doing and why……

Before his gaze shifted back to Matthew Garrett whose grey eyes had fallen for the first time.

To the black watch which lay on the table between them…..

As Garrett's gaze now lifted slowly to meet his, the features tense for a moment; before relaxing as though he had been expecting it as the Texan accent filled the air the tone jagged:

'The day of his father's funeral'

A half smile crossed Matthew Garrett's features at that moment the grey eyes looked directly into hers it left no doubt; as her gaze quickly diverted to the man beside her.

They gaze locked…..

His gaze switched back to Garrett looking him square in the eye as he voiced at that moment; what both he and the woman as his side was thinking:

'It was not the last time you would see him though'

Matthew Garrett's grey eyes gleamed in response to those words; a smile crossed into the stern features Garrett's gaze staying put.

Undisturbed by his; as the fact slowly dawned on him at that moment……

As the grey eyes continued to bore into him; that this was a fight, they were not going to win; as his gaze moved at that no longer looking there. Into those grey eyes which were looking deep into his; as his gaze fell at that moment to the missing person file which lay open before him.

His blue eyes resting there on that official document before slowly moving to Nick's photo and the watch which lay in front of Garrett, his gaze gliding at that to Catherine the blue eyes once more holding his.

As his gaze slid back to Matthew Garrett holding there before moving again; looking beyond him to the mirror in this darkened room. His gaze staying there for a long moment knowing the person behind there; that would have listened to every word of this interrogation, as his gaze fell to Nick's watch at that moment ……

….For Matthew Garrett had dealt the card which he could not play against; for it was the one thing denied to them and if they ever were to find it, it would mean only one thing, proof of this mans words…..that Nick was dead; and that this man, there prime suspect even now had the upper hand….

As his gaze rested on the watch his thoughts and emotions coming together as one:

'You used Nick as a pawn Garrett'

He looked up, feeling Catherine's touch upon him at that moment as his tone grew razor sharp:

'He paid the price with his live for something which did not involve him; and until the day we find his body there is no closure and that is what you wanted all along, to leave his family not knowing.'

The grey eyes penetrated his; Matthew Garrett's gaze staying on him.

There was no response though.

As Catherine's hand which lay in his tightened its grip, his own responding to Catherine's as his gaze now swept beyond Garrett, looking again to the mirror before shifting his gaze to the right, to the cop who stood at the far corner next to the door.

He nodded, the cop stepped forward.

Garrett's grey translucent eyes darkened; picking that moment to add one last comment with words which would haunt him:

'Maybe your words hold grains of truth; for sooner or later you will find closure Gil Grissom. It's only a question of time.'

He froze unable to move his gaze away from the look across Garrett's features and the viciousness of the tone; as he felt Catherine's hand add slight pressure. His colleagues gaze now finding that of Matthew Garrett's.

The look alone speaking for them both as the cop now etched closer….

His gaze falling at that back on Garrett whose grey eyes looked once more into his as the cop produced hand cuffs, Catherine's gaze staying where it was, before slowly turning to meet his.

The hand in his gently realising as Garrett was now forced to stand.

The hand cuffs clicking into place; the sound filled the air. As Matthew Garrett looked between them for a moment a thin smile forming across his features; as his gaze slowly shifted of them, no longer looking at either of them, instead the grey eyes were focused on one thing and one thing alone the watch…….

* * *

'He's guilty'

His eyes closed the Texan accent was matter of fact; as he took a breath, before he turned slowly to face the individual who had spoken. The dark brown eyes of the individual in question looked directly in his, his gaze at that moment taking in the strong resemblance; the short brown hair, athletic frame and the strong set features…..

……Which made the likeness even more distinct as his gaze stayed on Ryan Stokes, his thoughts changing once more at that for it was something which he was very much aware of at this moment; as those dark brown eyes continued to look into his.

It was by all accounts where the resemblance ended to his younger brother, for the person who stood before him now; was of heavier build, taller and less handsome than Nick and the brown eyes which were continuing to look directly into his.

Were a shade darker than his brothers; and gave away the nature which belonged to Tom Stokes oldest son. As his gaze continued to rest on Ryan Stokes; taking in at the same time the smart appearance.

Of the dark suit and tie which only heightened the acute difference in personality and character. For it was the something which had not escaped him; and was written across the strong features at this moment, that Ryan Stokes lacked among other things the integrity and humanity which had been his brothers…..

As his gaze now drifted past Ryan Stokes taking in the other person who stood not far from Tom Stokes oldest son; and unlike Ryan Stokes was not related to the victim by blood. The features tense like his and that this person was someone Nick had known well.

A work colleague at one time, friend and someone who he now knew; had saved Nick's live the first time he had a gun pulled on him and compared to Ryan Stokes he was altogether different……

Sun kissed blond hair; beach boy good looks, medium height, green-blue eyes and a born cop, with a personality to match; and something which was in evidence at this precise moment as his own gaze looked Max Calder in the eye before moving back to Ryan Stokes.

His features turning to a frown as the look of almost hate, grew in those dark brown eyes; his gaze moving finding that of the woman closest to him. Catherine's blue eyes shone and that her thoughts were running along the same line as his. As his thoughts now found voice, his gaze staying set on Ryan Stokes:

'It's not the point Ryan and you know it'

The head turned, the features turned deadly serious:

'Then tell me what is?'

Feeling him self flinch under the tone he replied:

'Matthew Garrett would rather rote in jail than give us anything more'

The square jaw tightened the brown eyes softened glinting into his and what they both knew as the Texan accent turned raw:

'It was not what I asked you Gil Grissom'

Her blue eyes swept between the two; seeing Gil at that moment trying to keep his emotions in check while Ryan Stokes maintained his stance Tom Stokes oldest son continuing to look Gil direct in the eye; as a different Texan voice at that moment filled the air, the twang rugged.

It was the voice of Max Calder:

'They did all they could Ryan'

The strong set features swung back of him at that as Ryan Stokes now turned to face Max Calder the strong features turning to scowl as his gaze; once more glanced Catherine's way. The blue ocean eyes reflected into his, there thoughts one; as the red head beside him now followed up on Max Calder's comment.

Forcing Ryan Stokes gaze back onto them as she did so:

'You took him down Ryan but Matthew Garrett wanted revenge against your father; and even now the law is on his side.'

The brown eyes glared in response to her words silence filled the air; as she now felt the brunt of Ryan Stokes anger. The strong features becoming rigid at that moment and what shook her more than anything, the tone used against her as the Texan accent spat back at her:

'Then there is no justice and it's my family who are suffering'

For a moment the words hung there. No one moved the anger fading ever so slightly from Ryan Stokes features, as Catherine's blue eyes found his Max Calder's doing the same and that all eyes were now on him but he did not answer instead; it was at that moment the woman who stood beside Catherine.

Who made the move, the person who had remained silent until now; his colleague, the woman who like Ryan Stokes had listened to every word of Matthew Garrett's interrogation and who right at this moment had never looked more fragile….

The fine features etched in pain the dark intelligent starlight eyes tear filled and full of fire; the brunette mane of shoulder length hair fell loosely, capturing her beauty and unlike Catherine the woman who stood between them.

Her attire was less formal revealing ever so slightly the small bump; that gave away her pregnancy as Sara Sidles voice filled the half light room. Her gaze resting on the missing person file which lay open before her:

'What about Nick's life Ryan, he was your brother'

The dark brown eyes flickered for a moment; Sara's words having an imminent effect as Ryan Stokes gaze now moved between them. Before coming back to rest on the woman beside her, the look in the eyes altered from before and like Sara she could see the look of pain there:

'Nick's dead'

There was a pause the tone rising; a nick at that moment as Ryan Stokes gaze slid back of Sara; coming instead to once more to look into hers. With the look which lay there in those brown eyes cutting deeper than the words at that moment:

'And Matthew Garrett is responsible'

The tone descended.

Ryan Stokes gaze set once more on Catherine.

The red-head for a moment looking his way the blue eyes sending him a silent message and it had been as though Catherine had been the one to inflict the wound……

As the two women beside him both looked his way; Sara's dark eyes finding his at that moment. The look alone telling him the underlying emotions and that it was Sara the woman who stood not far from him who was the individual going through the most…..

….His gaze slowly moving from the dark starlight eyes, for a second returning to Catherine before falling to the official document in front of Sara; as his thoughts went into free fall something registering within and it was something which came neither from theory or science…..

….For if anything it had been something he had learned from Catherine; and surrounded this investigation. Human behaviour and what it was combined with, for it was something which had hindered them for the start. The little evidence they did have and that there prime suspect the accused lay beyond justice, conviction not being enough alone.

There evidence bringing vindication but not answers….

As his blue eyes moved from the missing person file which lay open; to his colleague seeing the look which shone strong there in Sara's dark starlight eyes, as his gaze landed once more on the name written in red on that official document…..

The victim's name as his gaze swooped from there.

To look at Ryan Stokes whose dark brown eyes were now glazed over, the strong features withdrawn and the look across those features; was somehow not far removed from from one he had seen once before, in another time and place…..

The memory of that day for a moment returning as he continued to look directly into those brow eyes and like Catherine they shared the same view on the individual who was looking him directly in the eye…..

With there being an off handiness in Ryan Stokes manner with that off handiness being something which had only now been broken with Sara's news and although Ryan Stokes had shown the same concern as his five sisters.

There was still coldness, in his demeanour something uncharacteristic of what they had come to expect from Nick's family and the underlying fact something which shone there in those brown pools.

That the person across from him was of the same blood as Nick a Stokes; and though there was much he disliked about him. It did not take away from the fact that Ryan was never the less Nick's brother…..

With Ryan Stokes voicing the words which no one wanted to hear; for there hands were tied. Matthew Garrett in the end only torturing them with those other no less severe charges against the man who had been Nick's fathers ally…..

….Taking him down for live with this part of it remaining as it had been out of the media eye, there evidence superseded; as his gaze drew back level with Ryan Stokes his gaze looking deep into those dark brown reflective eyes, before shifting.

To the look at the other Texan who stood in this room. Max Calder again giving him a direct glance as his gaze fell to Sara at that moment; seeing the love shining there in those dark firelight eyes.

For the individual; his colleague the man who had brought them all this way to Dallas and who could now be nothing other than dead and it was the one thing even at this moment he could not fully accept……

…..As his thoughts turned for they had no comeback; nothing to disprove otherwise with Ryan Stokes taking the bait, what Matthew Garrett had used to torment them with as blue eyes fell to Catherine at that moment.

The blue ocean eyes completely drawing his.

His heart missed a beat under that gaze.

With the blue ocean eyes holding his as he lost himself there in those depths, there thoughts merging in that moment; for it was a view they both shared on something unrelated yet paramount….

….That it had been someone else pulling the strings on this investigation; with the feeling something which had been there since that fatal day and had only grown in these months that he had been powerless at every turn…

….As his gaze swung back to Ryan Stokes at that thought; the serious look across the features darkening at that moment and the fact he could not put the dagger in this mans hands.

For Ryan Stokes had done everything in his power to help them with there not being a shred of evidence to even hint otherwise as his gaze rested there on the brown eyes; which offered him no answers…..

Before he slowly looked Catherine's way, the delicate features grave as his thoughts now returned to the present; and the fact, something which had been driven like a stake into them, that all they were ever likely to find would be his body…..

As his gaze swept at that to Max Calder, someone who had known Nick long before he did; with look across the Texans features reflecting the look which had been across a young lab technicians features not so many months ago and like Greg. Max Calder thought otherwise; as his steal gaze fell to the A4 document in front of Sara.

His thought turning inwards for it went against his every belief and the science which was his live; but it applied to Nick and in its own way also to Catherine and it was something a live now hung by – Nick's live as his blue eyes lifted from that official document; to look again at the two women who stood side by side.

His blue eyes falling first to Catherine's, his heart lurching under the red-head's gaze as he slowly now tore himself away from that gaze, to look at the younger woman beside her.

Seeing the spirit and fragility there as he continued to look Sara's way; and that her image portrayed his thoughts with the live Sara carried within her personifying that; as his voice at last rang out with certainty.

His words clashing with those that had gone before; Ryan Stokes gaze locking with his at that moment:

'Matthew Garrett gave responsibility but you're playing into his hands'

The set features twitched in response.

Ryan Stokes tensing up there gaze remaining locked on each other; as he now left his next words hanging by a moment as he looked deep into those brown eyes:

'Your brother is still missing Ryan'

* * *

The sky was overcast and grey, the skyscrapers of Dallas, stood out in the far distance as the hand in hers gently released. Her gaze sweeping over the suburban sprawl that lay in front of her before her gaze slowly shifted back.

Taking in the profile of the man who stood beside her; the handsome features were taunt the blue eyes dark and that the look on Gil's features reflected how they both felt as she now sent her colleague, a half smile changing the subject as she did so:

'You sure have a way of putting the cat among the pigeons Gil'

The features gave her a quizzical glare the tone lightening up as Grissom replied on form:

'That's usually your area of expertise Catherine'

She smiled, seeing Gil's features doing the same as she now played back of that last comment:

'You know maybe it is; but I don't think you can keep this under wraps for much longer'

The blue eyes shifted, her a look. Her hand coming back into Gil's strong hand; linking them as she did so as she now beat her colleague to the next comment:

'And don't even think about throwing me a line Einstein; for Sara and Warrick like Lindsey already have us figured out and we are dating partner.'

His colleague smiled; the smile that could turn any head as he continued to look into those blue ocean eyes and that Catherine was nudging him away from the subject they had been discussing. As he now gently teased his second in command back playing on that last comment of hers:

'Just we've not went official yet and it's not our style at any other time Catherine'

The hand is his tightened its grip the blue eyes sparkled as he now left Catherine hanging at that; his gaze temporarily moving away from the red-head his hand releasing from the smaller one at that moment

His gaze returning to the crime labs that they had just left and where Sara still was. With Ryan Stokes having left; Max Calder staying for a little longer and who they had left Sara with and that Catherine was now trying her level best to get his thoughts away from what had just taken place.

The stand off which had been left between them and Ryan Stokes as his gaze came back onto Catherine at that the blue eyes sending him a look; before he now looked beyond Catherine to what his eye could see, the backdrop of Dallas.

Which even on this overcast day stood out; the skyscrapers majestic to the grey background, and the fact something which stung more than anything as he stood here now here looking out over this city that, there was nothing more they could do and the pain which Nick's family now had to suffer….

….As he looked for a moment into Catherine's blue eyes his colleague giving, him a look as though she could read his every thought as Catherine's voice now turned sombre going back to what they had been discussing:

'Ryan Stokes would not have listened to us anyway Gil to stubborn'

She stopped seeing the look in Grissom's eyes change; as she now hit the nail on the head:

'It's not the issue though is it?'

The blue eyes glinted into his waiting on his answer:

'He voiced what anyone of Nick's family would have done Catherine; but what about the victim in this and Sara'

There gaze met; the blue eyes reflecting into hers with Gil speaking words of truth as her gaze swept over the landscape and that beyond those skyscrapers which stood out, lay the green foothills and cowboy country which marked this part of Texas and the heartlands of Dallas.

As her thoughts mingled for they were staring into the eyes of defeat; for there was nothing more and that Ryan Stokes had voiced that; for it was only now formality, a blip in an errorless type, which kept Nicky Stokes name where it was…..

Her gaze again looking into Gil's steal gaze at that. As her thoughts turned for a moment to Sara, her colleague and the person staying with her; for there was no solace, no arbour, to take away the pain for she had been the person closest to him and what made it even harder to bear...

….Something which would only deepen with the passing of time; for it was the legacy now left to them and something which she knew would be re-forged in the live, of the unborn child Sara carried within her…..

For it was what, she could see clearly at this moment in those blue eyes of Gil's. The look of pain which shone there and reflected in her own; for it was here in Dallas where Nick had grown up, where his live had begun. That they had found only absolution…..

For they had no recluse merely the knowledge and the epitaph which now surrounded them; his name remaining by default as a missing person and that they had no where else to turn, evidence and Matthew Garrett compounding that. With decadence being there only closure and of what they now faced.

Something which would be tripled in Las Vegas where Nick had settled and what she knew weighed heavily on the man who stood beside her. That when it had mattered most, they had failed him and that it went beyond the victim, for it touched all who had known him.

As she once more turned to look at the man beside her and though it was something he would never admit; it was there in those deep blue eyes a vulnerability that was heightened right at this moment and that; Ryan Stokes had only made that feeling worse….

…Her gaze at that again, taking in Gil's handsome set features and the look in those blue eyes as she now gently placed her hand back into Gil's strong one, linking them in that moment….

For a second she did not speak as she continued look at the man at her side and that they were bound to each other with the love which shone deep in Gil's blue eyes encircling her in every way possible; as she seen the first grey clouds begin to break in the sky above, the Dallas backdrop warming to it.

The hand in hers tightening, its grip at that moment, with it being the words spoken between them in these next few moments; which she would forever hold this man too, for it was something they would do together, no matter the outcome….

……For it was the live which bound them as one, as her thoughts linked together. Her soft tone ringing out, the Dallas breeze catching her words; words which had first been echoed by Warrick, yet it was at this moment, they struck in a new way:

'We'll find him Gil'

His gaze took Catherine in, the words hanging there; as he now ever so gently brought the red head closer to him. The small hand staying encircled within his as Catherine's blue ocean eyes looked deep into his it left him free falling…..

…. As the Dallas sun picked that moment to blink into view; his gaze returning to Catherine. Seeing the look across those delicate features and of the intimacy they now shared as his thoughts interlinked.

For he was certain that the CSI three who had worked under him would have approved of this; as he now gently changed the subject back away from what had brought them here and to what Catherine had earlier cornered him on, taking his colleagues statement a stage further and at the same time playing on how they both felt:

'There is a different way of going official Catherine, if you're game'

The hand in his responded his blue eyes for a moment closing; his heart missing a beat as his blue eyes opened Catherine Willows once more sending him that smile; a smile which could light up any room and then some, as the strong independent woman who he now held close gave her answer……

* * *

Days, weeks and months had passed since that day; which was forever, for so many reasons, etched in his memory. It was now early July.

With what lay between them now being official in more ways than one; there relationship in turn only finding new depths and that Catherine was his constant, his sun and moon, the woman who held his heart and soul and who understood him in the way no other could.

As the palm of his hand slowly came to the file in front of him his thoughts changing completely as he looked at the name written there; for it something which had not changed, for it was a complete file and a cold case as his gaze took in the A4 document in front of him….

His hand carefully flipping open the cover, taking in the different sections that made this document a whole the personal and confidential details; at the front of the file and what was also here in this section. Something which had been added and gave permanence his colleague's photo; along with his CSI three cards.

As he now turned his attention to the latter sections of the file; the pictures from the crime scene, the work of Ecklie's team, Greg's data, there own findings and all the information from Dallas, along with Garrett's statement were here. His eye taking in the acronym left from that; as he drew to the back of the document.

To the one piece of evidence which lay there, the possession which had been on the victim, was sealed safely here; Nick's watch and that this legal, official document was all that was now left of his colleague as he now slowly turned the pages of black and white over.

His thoughts turning inwards for this file; held everything there was, the genetics behind that live, the blueprint, the individuals unique confidential details, what had shaped there live and every aspect of it and that it now essentially. Gave the remnants to how that live had ended….

As his thought tapered off; and that they had not found him. With it being what had resided those months ago in Dallas; keeping this investigation open and what he could draw from that, for it was what hindsight had given him.

For there was no deliverance; that it was only a question of time before they would find the closure he did not want and what went with it something which made it all the more painful, that this investigation…..

Went deep into the victims past to the primaries of his live: to Dallas his family, to what had happened in his childhood and to Tom Stokes the father who Nick had never been close to; and that Matthew Garrett a man who had indirectly influenced Nick's live….

….Was now a convicted man; Garrett maintaining only silence behind bars something which would not change and that he was even now above the law for they held nothing more; with forensics and science obsolete …..

As he looked once more at the open document before him; his thoughts colliding at that moment as his gaze swept to what also lay on his desk, the spare copy of this document lay on his left hand side and beside it sat a note, a message passed from Dallas and that it come not from Ryan Stokes.

But from the sister closest in age to Nick and that the information held in this note had not surprised him, for he had known the toll on her and that Grace Stokes Nick's mother was now also dead; as his thoughts turned to that last trip he had made to Dallas with Catherine. Just over a month ago:

Where they had travelled through Arizona, New Mexico to the south states, to Texas; with the interstate winding them past Carrollton and A & M College. Where Nick had made the first moves towards his future career and past the streets he would have patrolled as a cop.

Before they had reached there final destination; there only stop being the labs where his CSI career had begun before coming to the traditional two storey house on the east side of Dallas; where he had grown up.

With Grace Stokes knowing as well as him his reason for coming that day; that her youngest son was by record deceased, there findings only sealing that and what he had seen that day with his own eye, that strong though she was.

Grace Stokes had failed since that first time he had laid eyes upon her, with the loss of her youngest son proving too much after her husband and that she had lost the two most important men in her live, a blow which had finished her ….

With Grace Stokes being surrounded by her family that day; a family which had been shattered to the core, with two of Nick's siblings being there to listen to every word that he and Catherine had to say.

Ryan Stokes and the woman who had sent him the note which lay before him now, the sister closest in age to Nick; Neve and what she had told him, the story from her own childhood which gave away part of Nick's character.

That love of heights. For she had been the sister who had taken the rap, the time her six year old younger brother had fallen from the red oak tree which infringed there backyard; with Nick managing in the process to fracture his right wrist.

Something which had caused further commotion and concern; and that it had in the end only elevated his colleagues dare devil approach for further heights. With that red oak tree still being there beyond the veranda in the backyard and that it had been in full bloom on that day, late in May…..

Plus something which had only registered with him that day, though he had been aware of it, that Nick himself had been an uncle and what he was aware of now……

That Grace Stokes had not lived to see her last grandchild come into the world; with it being the words which she had not spoken, that day which said the most Grace Stokes instead in her own way asking after Sara; and the view she had shared with him….

The irony of what Nick had been doing on that fatal day.

Paragliding and the significance that had to both of them; and the deeper irony something which reflected in Grace Stokes soft brown eyes that her youngest son had been happy here in Las Vegas….

As his thoughts now turned; to Ryan Stokes.

The individual who had succeeded his father; and was chief justice of the Texas Supreme Courts and that he had barely spoken a word to either he or Catherine. Keeping instead the standoff there had been between them; and that without reading between the lines.

For it had been obvious that day; that unlike the rest of his siblings Ryan Stokes had in no way ever been close to his younger brother….

His thoughts shifting away at that from Ryan Stokes; for a moment and something he had seen in that large comfortable house.

Where his colleague; had grown up. With that spacious house not being far removed, from the open plan apartment which had been Nick's in Las Vegas and that he had dwelt long. For that reason, while Catherine had continued to talk to Grace Stokes and the rest of her family.

For unlike Nick's apartment where there had been no photos, there was plenty in his family home and that Dallas home; gave more the large hall, gliding back to the old fashioned homely kitchen where Catherine and him self had first met Grace Stokes.

With the hall having a small study to its left hand side, the study which had been Tom Stokes place of work and a room which had hardly changed in more than thirty years; maps adorning it and that beyond the study, lay the family room.

A room which held tradition for more than one generation; a grandfather clock of the old style, a large fireplace, family air looms and what had drawn him in that room. The carved, worn, wooden style display cabinet; and the many photos which were displayed on it.

Photos for every decade of his colleagues live; and that they depicted every stage of Nick's live and that like the document before him now in this brightly light office; those pictures told there own story:

From his first picture, a baby in his mother's arms; to the toddler under his sister's watchful eyes and to the warm brown eyes and smile of a five year old boy with a baseball bat in hand.

The pictures changing with the passage of time and giving away without meaning to what had impact the live; the family photo, with the haunted look in those same brown eyes, the serious look across the features, Nick standing a little apart from the rest of his siblings.

And the later photos, the ones he had lingered at, the adolescent at play the warmth returned to the brown eyes; with the handsome features changing becoming more distinct with each passing year and the college photos.

The baseball, bat again in hand only now in the hands of an adult; the person he had come to know and that along with the few photos, of the cop Nick had become sat another picture a picture taken in Las Vegas; of the CSI he had been….

….With the last photos taking centre place; and the only other photo which had caught his eye one which stood near the front. A picture of a father with his two sons; Nick in his early twenties the handsome features grave beside that of his brother and that, that the picture had only solidified what he had come to understand.

As his thoughts bounded to the present; and the memory of Grace Stokes words to him for it was the words her eldest son had given first:

'He's dead isn't he?'

And that he had been unable to give her any answer; instead he had raised his head to look directly into those soft brown eyes with the one other thing hitting at that moment while Grace Stokes steady gaze remained on him; for the crime scene alone had given enough clues on that front.

For it was a place he did not want to go. The fact Grace Stokes youngest son would had not died in pain and that she had known. The words he was unable to speak. With Ryan Stokes at that point also turning to look his way, the look in the features giving testimony enough to how he felt….

As he drew in a breath his thoughts disengaging; with the light of the office playing across the file in front of him for it was something this investigation had brought home to him and what struck now something he could not help but feel.

That there investigation had been to clean cut, to final; taking them to the victim's roots, to Dallas. His father's death plus all that was linked to it, including Ryan Stokes; with Matthew Garret the vital spoke in the wheel the empathy of that and that at every turn he had been unable to dictate the path taken.

That it had been out of his hands…….

And the new slant of pain for it went with it and was what his family were left to suffer; for it was what there investigation had dug up and that Garrett a once friend of the family was now behind bars and that it did not take away the pain.

It only added to it; and what lingered with him, the human element something which forerun this case and though he did not doubt Matthew Garrett's guilt that he had too many links with the victim; his family and that he had been after blood ….

- With Garrett being too willing, to forthcoming, and to forward and that he would never answer to them….

- Plus what surrounded this investigation; law and justice something which ran deep in the Stokes blood and the deep set irony….

Something which had been twisted in for it was in some cruel way linked to the victim; that nether science, modern technology or theory was enough alone to solve this puzzle and that even now. He Gil Grissom did not hold all the answers….

…. For he held at this moment; no more than half the pieces and that it was unlikely he would find anything more. For the noose had been tightened. With there only ever being one person who could help him solve this puzzle, to find the pieces; the victim – Nick…..

As his blue eyes closed for a moment no longer looking at the document before him; for it was the knowledge given to them. The certainty bound to them; and that it would bring no peace of mind. Only that it would bring more pain; to his family and Sara….

…..For it was the place; no part of him could go.

Too see Nick's body lying on an autopsy table. To find his remains; and even though everything in black and white stated otherwise that Nick was dead….

….It was the fear which clutched his heart; and that he could not accept that live was gone for it was the feeling which had been there those two times when he and Warrick had went to identify a body; and that if were it to happen a third time.

It would be to one fate…..

As a cold sharp voice picked that moment to abruptly bring his thoughts to a halt his gaze lifting from the document on his desk too look at the person, who stood at the door of his office:

'Not filed that one away yet Gil'

The tone was matter of fact; as he looked up into Conrad Ecklie's pasty features his gaze moving at that back to the document in front of him and that the person whose file; he was looking at was ten times the man and more to what Ecklie could ever dream of being….

…..With it being Ecklie whose gaze was at this moment set on him being the one to see to it; that Nick's locker had been filled and the grudge, that Ecklie had borne against Nick. Was something which had now been transferred over to Sara and the unborn child she, carried.

As Conrad Ecklie's voice once more struck out, taking his silence as an opportunity as Ecklie nodded to the file on the desk:

'It's a dead end case Gil but then again those are the ones which always surprise you'

Ecklie's features turned into a menacing grin the tone deceptive the comment holding there. With there gaze remaining for a moment locked on each other; as his gaze fell back at that to the missing person file.

His thoughts changing and that Ecklie had enjoyed every moment of this. While his own team had fell back on itself struggling to come to terms with its loss; and that it was a loss that went far and beyond his team for it was felt throughout the labs.

As he again looked up to give his reply to one Conrad Ecklie; instead he found himself looking an empty corridor. Ecklie gone, for a moment his gaze rested there as though expecting someone else to be standing there watching him….with time itself eradicating Nick's memory as though he had never once walked these corridors...

And it was what he had felt those months ago in Nick's apartment; and something which had now become all the more clearer…..

That the power of his team with one fatal calculative swoop. Had been halved the touchstone of his team gone; the heart ripped from them and that it was something which could and would never be replaced….

With his team only now slowly beginning to adapt to live without that gung-ho Texan in it; and that it was only his relationship with Catherine which had seen them both through. While he had seen at the same time the friendship between; Warrick and Sara become steadily closer.

Warrick being a vital support to her when she had needed it most; and he knew Nick's all too innocent last comment to Warrick had something to do with it - though not all and that the ice which had always been between Catherine and Sara was now gone. Sara for a time staying with Catherine; the two women finding a bond and helping each other through this…..

Sara now in the latter stages of her pregnancy and the part Nick had played in her live was something he could see in Sara's every gesture and action and that she had found a place of her own; preparing it for the child that would soon enter all there lives and like the rest of his now team.

He could see the look of pain which shone deep in Sara's dark starlight eyes with there only ever one person, who could take that look away…..and that by the time Sara came back from her maternity leave, the temporary replacements that had filled Nick's place would no longer be so.

That it would be someone per meant; with Greg who had steadily worked his way up the ranks now standing in for Sara for the time being and the fact he missed that CSI three who had worked under. More than he cared to admit; and that no one had come anywhere near close to what Nick had given his team……

The people skills' something that Nick partly shared with Catherine but it was something Nick had, had an abundance off; the course of there investigation only highlighting where those skills had come from.

His Texan up bringing and all that had influenced his live and what it was combined with his determination and will, that innate zeal; and the emotional tide that Nick had under toned into every inch of his work a quality which had simply; been part of him.

Along with that stubborn serious but easy going nature of his; and that for a CSI, Nick had something unique. His enthusiasm, heart and that huge chunk of humanity and those qualities, had been all the things he had time and again faulted Nick for.

That he had been to eager to please, that he had at times tried to hard and on the rare occasion when he had ever given Nick the time of day; he had ended up shunning what was right in front of him favouring either Sara or Warrick over the Texan….

As his blue eyes opened and to where he had turned to without thinking. His gaze watching the aluminous dials of the black watch; and that Nick in many ways held the qualities he himself lacked.

Yet it was more for it was something which came once every so often. The human touch, that serious edge, his compassion, innocence and loyalty…..and what had been sunk deep into him, something revealed when it was too late. That like Catherine he had looked upon Nick as a son….

And that his team was no longer a whole; that they were at half mast without him, with the cases that came and went making it no easier. Missing person cases being the hardest; made even more so on the rare occasion when the person had turned up alive.

As an old memory pricked his thoughts at that moment, a missing person case, the one which had involved Paige where Nick's determination and will had been there in all its glory; the CSI standing his ground with him not going along with him on his theory then and unlike him.

Nick had been someone who went on gut instincts, a hunch, something where like Brass he had hardly ever got it wrong. Nick having it as in borne skill and it was something he could see now in a lesser degree in Greg.

With Nick being the type of CSI, who did not work on theory alone his cop back ground resurfacing along with what had been the backbone of his live; and that for him Gil Grissom the science which gave the truth - every answer this time did not.

For it was what this investigation had revealed to him…..

Something which DNA and science was only a small part off for he had delved into the fabrics, the threads of a persons live, a live he himself had known; and what lay encircled within this official document. That like the Texas state where he had grown up; Nick had been a lone star in his own right……

……And the crushing fact that he Gil Grissom could not solve this puzzle. Nicky Stokes name now to be found engraved only on file; database and also on CODIS and that his colleague like thousands of other missing person's had become a statistic, a numerical value.

As his thoughts halted; remembering Greg's words as he looked for a long moment at the watch before him and the significance of what that small possession held and what was added to it as he turned past the evidence. To the front of the file to the picture which lay there for it was what made it harder to bare that any day know.

Sara would be bringing a child into this world, which would be of Nick's own flesh and blood. The part of him left to them; and that like Catherine before her Sara would bring this child up in every way possible to know. The persons whose details he was looking upon now.

As he slowly closed the A4 file, looking for a moment at the name and what went with it. Something that had always been part of that Texan; that Nick had been strong, that he had throughout his live fought back against all the odds and it was the shred of hope…

….Which lay somehow entwined in the baby; Sara carried within her.

For it was what they clung to. What he himself had voiced. Something which went against his every, believe; for they had found no record of him to state otherwise and the one other thing - for to find it.

Would be to find Nick; the silver ring which he had worn. A family air loom and there only other means of identification; with the odds being a billion to one that he was even out there - that he was alive at all….

…And the part of him which could not help but feel Nick was alive.

What his better judgement never the less told him. That even if he had somehow survived. The blood loss, the physiological damage alone, would have left little of the man he himself would have known and that if he did not know himself for whatever reason….

There was only one place that Nicky Stokes would sooner or later or turn up. The one place he was sure to return to… and the one further thought along that line what ingrained this investigation. That the system which had let Nick down years before and was doing the same now did not account for everything……

As his thoughts came to the present the palm of his hand for a moment resting on the document and all it enclosed; before his hand moved reaching for the spare copy of the missing person file carefully putting the two together - he did not file them away though.

Instead he sat the documents at his right hand side of his desk where they had been; and the place where they would remain for years to come…. until the day they would be lain out of sight away from the eagle eye of a brown eyed boy…..

As he now heard a familiar rap at his office door.

He looked up away from his desk and all that lay on it as Catherine made her way over to him; the red long hair cascading forward, capturing those delicate features. His eye also taking in at the same time his colleague's dress which was as ever formal but elegant; and what she wore at this moment only seemed to intensify her beauty.

However it was the look across those features at this moment that brought an ache to his heart; as Catherine took the seat across from him, the small hand linking with his. Tears shone in those blue ocean eyes; the emotions clear and he could see the smile that was also trying to tug across her features.

With Catherine's gaze falling to the document which lay at his right hand side. The hand in his tightening its grip as he now clasped that hand to his. Aware of what news she was about to break to him; as his gaze followed Catherine's.

For it was something which would bring both joy and pain to them; and the person whose file he was looking at was now a father. As there voice rang out as one in the same moment; voicing the name of the women who had meant most to Nicky Stokes:

'Sara'

TO BE CONTINUED

P.S Not best to leave you stranded but I had to put this part of it up by the way did any of this chapter live up to anyone's expectations what is there? & even with what's happened do you think it's worth continuing?

Jennifer J Kirkland


	5. Ascension

Hanging by a Moment

- Ascension

Chapter Five

Author: Jen

Authors note: Hi folks, I'm back not sure what you will make of this though, but its part of what I've been aiming for & I'm also aiming for a proper cliff-hanger if I ever get that length!

Done once more in flashback, please read & enjoy.

MAJOR ANGST N/S & G/C

Plus I'm trying to get all the characters at same point, there is a lot more to come & I've left you hanging as this was meant to be end of last chapter but its to big anyway, so its now a chapter in its own right.

Only one further thing, out with we end up right back at end of first chapter here so you are warned plus this story was not worth writing if main character did not come through, so I hope I live up to expectations! & this will open a whole can of worms in a new way, for there is more than one bad guy for Gil got v.close but not enough. Anyway that's giving too much away.

Please read & enjoy there is something in here!!!

* * *

As his thoughts came to the present the palm of his hand for a moment resting on the document and all it enclosed; before his hand moved reaching for the spare copy of the missing person file carefully putting the two together - he did not file them away though.

Instead he sat the documents at his right hand side of his desk where they had been; and the place where they would remain for years to come…. until the day they would be lain out of sight away from the eagle eye of a brown eyed boy…..

As he now heard a familiar rap at his office door.

He looked up away from his desk and all that lay on it as Catherine made her way over to him; the red long hair cascading forward, capturing those delicate features. His eye also taking in at the same time his colleague's dress which was as ever formal but elegant; and what she wore at this moment only seemed to intensify her beauty.

However, it was the look across those features at this moment that brought an ache to his heart; as Catherine took the seat across from him, the small hand linking with his. Tears shone in those blue ocean eyes; the emotions clear and he could see the smile that was also trying to tug across her features.

With Catherine's gaze falling to the document which lay at his right hand side. The hand in his tightening its grip as he now clasped that hand to his. Aware of what news she was about to break to him; as his gaze followed Catherine's.

For it was something which would bring both joy and pain to them; and the person whose file he was looking at was now a father. As there voice rang out as one in the same moment; voicing the name of the women who had meant most to Nicky Stokes:

'Sara'

-

* * *

Sara Sidle's dark starlight eyes slowly opened for a moment feeling her self again beginning to drift. Her dark eyes closing once more; taking her again to that warm dream. As she felt once more at that moment what had woken her the first time from her dream; a re-assuring kick as her dark intelligent eyes opened fully.

Her hand gently passing over the bump as she drew a breath feeling the live there; the warm dream now gone as she fully awakened to this reality; where the man she loved was not here and that the only place he now lived. Was in her memories; and dreams…..

As she felt the live within her again stir, answering an unspoken call; as her gaze now slowly began to adjust to her surroundings. The cosy room was in a half light; with this being the central point in this small homely two bedroom house.

With the living area and couch she lay upon, being the focal point in this open main room; the two bedrooms and bathroom ad-joining it by the hall, its door lying to her direct left, and through the door a little to her right. Was the kitchen where she could hear Warrick working, doing the last finishing touches to this place; her new home.

Plus what she could not see something that helped make this place her own; directly behind her was the dining table with chairs and in front of her was the mantle piece, her gaze looking at the photograph's there before moving to the TV which was switched off, the mini- Hi-fi beside it.

With her CD's and those of Nick's as her gaze drifted to the books on the shelves beside the TV. Her crime novels from her old apartment were there and among them were Nick's law books and his Britannica collection and what had been in these months one of hardest things to do; the one thing that she held back from, and what she had done after that trip to Dallas.

The seeing to his apartment; where along with Catherine and Warrick, she had carefully and painfully went through each of his possessions and belongings; in the place which had become her second home. Returning what she thought appropriate to his family and Nick's mother in Dallas. A women; who was now dead.

As her thoughts now trailed shifting direction to all, that trip her only trip to Dallas had wrought upon her. What she had known would come, the links to Nick's late father and Matthew Garrett all somehow justifying that he could be nothing other than dead – the one thing she could not accept; as her thoughts slid to his family feeling the baby again stir within her.

His five sisters and Ryan a person who she did not trust and who Nick had barely talked off; yet she had seen with her own eye that day, months ago something other than the anger and emotion which he had vented on them…..

….The look of regret which had been in those dark brown eyes, for the brother he had never been close to - the person she loved the individual still missing; and that Nick's family were left with the same knowledge she was….

With the pain of that being something which had only grown; with this little live which lay ripe beneath her own heart being all that had seen her through, what had given her the strength to go on and the increased feeling of guilt and responsibility.

That she would be bringing this child; this live which beat beneath her own heart into the world without him and the ache in her heart that he would never see this live; the seed of there love grow……

…..as her gaze shifted her thoughts with it, as her gaze drifted to the mantle piece; to the picture there, a picture taken not long after her arrival in Las Vegas. With it being the picture she had found on the last day of her work.

Before her maternity leave; and that for the last months of her pregnancy she had been resigned to the labs taking that time also to go through the cases….

Anything they had done together and anything which might have his hand-writing or notes and where she had come across this find; for she had barely, any photos of them together. The picture itself tucked at the back of an old file; and that it encircled everything they meant to each other.

As her gaze rested on the photo - it was the one, where Nick was reaching up to grab her hand as her dark eyes for a moment closed; holding the memory of him, the warmth of his touch upon her and his love which had surrounded her. Before slowly she opened her dark eyes gaining strength in that moment; as her gaze moved from the photo.

To why she had picked this place her gaze taking in the view from the large window, a window which gave grace to the room. With this house being in some ways similar to Nick's old apartment and far bigger than what her, own apartment had been - the apartment which she had returned to for a short time after moving from Catherine's.

Before finding this place and that she could not help feel that Nick would have liked it here; with the southern Las Vegas suburban sprawl opening before her and out in the distance, where the sun had already set.

The mountains stood out rising heaven ward in the early evening light, the purple haze tingeing them as her dark intelligent gaze looked for a long moment; at the first lone star which shone bright in the early evening sky….

….Her dark eyes shifting back at that to the mountains and to all that they had meant to Nick as she felt the baby again kick, as if in response to her thoughts. A smile coming across her features and that his love was not gone from her, it lay here as she began to sing a little, something she had thought impossible after that day almost nine full months earlier….

….The baby again giving a light kick as she shifted on the sofa; sleep again beginning to wane at her as she sung one special song, her hand resting where it had been. Her thoughts drifting once more back to Nick; as she felt tears spring into her eyes, for the man who was not here at her side and that if he were dead….

That all they had shed light upon; made it all the harder to bare, and of the question she knew this child, his son would one day ask. The question that she herself; could not answer…

….. For to do so would be to relent that he was gone from her completely that his heart no longer beat and for the sake of this baby, there child she could not give up. For it was the love which Nick had encompassed her with; and belonged only with him and lay here beneath her heart.

As her thoughts merged as one; to all this investigation in his name had disclosed and where it had lead…..that it would not have been what either of them would have wanted; and that all she could do, was bring this baby, her son up to know…...

The vulnerable strong man who had filled every chasm of her live and who she had loved from the depths of her heart and soul; in the way he had her. As her gaze drifted at that moment to the photo's she had received in return from his family in Dallas.

With photo's being something that Nick had; had few off. As her dark eyes glanced at the images and this baby; there son would grow in every way to know the father…..the live which had helped forge this life which lay here at this moment….

……Beneath her heart as the last notes of a song so special to her filled the room; and his love, something untouchable and eternal like the stars in the evening sky, lay forever in her heart.

Her dark eyes for a moment closing at that thought….

Before opening taking in all that was around her the room neatly laid out and along with the photo's on the mantle piece; Nick's college trophies, his baseball bat and other no less important items were here and further through, out of view, his fawn jerkin jacket, mobile phone and wallet had been put safely past.

Possessions that had been on him in those last moments she had seen him; as she now slowly rose from the sofa, her breath again catching and that it had been an easy pregnancy.

With the sleep, she had been, denied; in those first months being what in these last days of her pregnancy, what she had succumbed to… her gaze again taking in at that this room her thoughts moving also….

To the different ways that her; live had been changed and the part the man who she loved and forever would had played a part in; and who was not here to share this with her and that it was here….

…..She would bring this baby, there child, which lay yet safe and protected within her womb up. The live which, depended on her; as she felt the baby turn within her, her breath catching in that moment. As her dark star-light, eyes once more looked at the photo, which took pride of place, memories for a moment flooding her as a tear slid down her cheek.

Her gaze staying there as a voice cut across her thoughts:

'You ok Sara?'

The concerned voice returning her to the present; as she now slowly tore herself away from the photo giving, Warrick a half smile; aware of when Nick had asked her that same question. In a different way on a day long ago, her thoughts returning to then as she felt the live stir once more.

Pain jolting through her at that moment as she now bit her lower lip. Feeling blood as she did so as Warrick now took her hand. The gesture one of friendship and support as she now tightened her grip of his hand.

Her breath again coming in sharply, with the baby sending her one message, that her time had come; as she glanced once more around her ignoring the clear look of concern across her colleague's features and that Warrick had been here in the way she knew Nick would have been.

Warrick taking to it as any would be father would have; and that his friendship had been something in these months she had been thankful for and deep down she knew the true reason for all Warrick had done for her. That his friendship with Nick had not only been one of competition; that they had been like brothers to one another.

As she now slowly took a breath her dark eyes closing in that moment her thoughts changing…

Remembering those words of Nick's on the day he had been, taken from her and those words. Which had come from deep within that heart and soul of his were the words that she had never been given the chance to tell him…..as she now opened her dark starlight eyes focusing on all that was happening within her.

Pushing back at that moment the tears which for a moment threatened to overwhelm her with, Warrick's heartfelt words now piercing her thoughts but no longer registering.

As she now lifted her, head her gaze for a moment returning to the photo and the look in the warm brown eyes of the man she loved….and that he could not be here to go through this with her to share this moment, to have the protection and safety, which came only with his touch….his love. All he had given her.

As she once more felt; the biting pain sear through her ….

For a moment more drawing breath; feeling the live within her, stir in a way that it had never done before…. and that it was in this moment. She could not help but wish he were here to share this….

….For that strong, gentle hand to once more link into hers; to feel the warmth of his touch, the look in those intense brown eyes as she now held back the cry, which yielded unbounded from her heart and soul what broke her heart.

That the man she loved was not here…

* * *

_Live is but a moment…_

It is an unforgiving land and where to this day. The Indians still rule. The landscape powerful and majestic to look at, divided by its unyielding prairie land to its east and to its west, are where sky meets mountain; and the land is one – it is the 'treasured state'.

The last cowboys settled in it. Its rivers run clear and free; from the Rocky Mountains high above, the golden eagles made this ancient land there home and it is, said the snow covered mountains answer; only to the golden eagles call….

For it is, where only the strongest survive and where live its-self is re-borne…

* * *

Lance Craig's foot hit the exhilarator; he smiled as his gaze went to the passenger seat of the black Toyota, cash lay there. It was no small amount. As he now stubbed out the cigarette, his thoughts descending.

He had been the middle man in this; and that this was something he had done time and again for the kill, the pay and for the kick it gave him in knowing the suffering he created and that, this hit - what he was doing now; had an altogether different slant to it.

For it had - been carefully planned both the before and afterwards that there had been no margin for error; and what had been all important, striking at the optimum moment, the timing at every stage crucial and that it involved risk…

….With that being the further reason; why his two associates had hired him and only him. For he had experience on both sides of the law, he played the system, his working knowledge was something sought by the best; and that he knew exactly how to cover his tracks - something he was doing now at this moment.

For he had left the bright light's of Las Vegas, one of his main hunting grounds; far behind, getting rid also of the last evidence linking either him or his main associate to the crime scene. At the Nevada, border passing through on into Idaho as he did so before, reaching Montana, where he was now in the early hours of this November morning where darkness covered his every passage.

As his finger tapped the wheel his other hand putting on the radio; his thoughts turning back to where they had been to the current contents of the trunk of this Toyota; and that his main associate the one who had committed the deed itself and the man paying him…

…..Had employed him for one further reason as he looked at what also lay on the passenger seat. Something which would be left; with the victim who lay at this moment in the trunk of this Toyota as he looked once more at the everyday object sitting beside the cash.

For it was the further part he had seen to and something only between him and his main associate. The man who had overseen every detail and it was something he him self had done with precision. For it was out with one other point.

The riskiest part for he had tampered with social security twining it and that and that it had been done for a greater purpose….

A purpose that his other associate was not aware of an individual who like him originally, was from Dallas and that he was the man who had wanted the victim dead - Matthew Garrett….

….Someone who he himself did not trust and that he had been the person deliberately and cunningly – kept in the dark to this part of it and the further fact which went with it, that he a man of power had more importantly been there decoy- there facade.

With Matthew Garrett being at the scene itself for a short time; his main associate keeping it that way for reason and what he him self had never questioned how his two associates who were linked by the law knew each other….

As his gaze took in the last lights of civilization in the darkness, the road beginning to spiral the mountains, which defined this remote part of Montana, glistened in the moonlight. His destination was near.

His hand switching back of the radio as he looked once more at the jagged mountain peaks, which reflected the moonlight. His destination after this lay beyond that continental divide- Canada and that Garrett a man he barely knew, might still get his way…

That the victim might; not make it.

….And though he him-self; could have finished the job something which he could have done - without hesitation it was not what he was being paid for; and that this time he was not only in it for the kill as his gaze switched again.

To the passenger seat and that the cash which lay there, cash which like every other hit, fed a habit, a bad habit; one which would eventually, some years later lead to his death….

As his cool handsome features turning serious his thoughts progressing; for it had taken every inch of his medical skill, something he did not lack either. To keep the victim alive and that the scene left behind in Las Vegas, had something further left at it.

Something which would toy those who arrived at it and that the victim; someone who his main associate had wanted to inflict as much damage upon and still keep alive, had one further wound….

His thoughts turning and that he had not come to this remote part of Montana, near Jennings for no reason, for it was something he had checked out and made sure off over a week earlier; and that his main associate knew the risk and was banking on it working…...

…And that he Lance Craig did not care either way, for it would no longer involve him and if the victim died, now then so be it. He had done his part to proficiency; and that he was the link in the chain. Which would never even years later - be found out.

As his speed slowed his gaze, looking back in the rear view mirror to those last lights of civilization which could be seen. He smiled cunningly, as he now switched of the engine - taking the gloves, which sat also on the passenger seat back on.

Picking up now what lay beside the cash he tucked it quickly in his jacket pocket as he turned breathing in the cold mountain air, his gaze taking in the snow, which covered the mountains in the far distance, and that he could just begin to see.

The first taint of the light of day on the horizon as he now shut the door. His gaze again looking at the road, which would lead him away from this isolated spot on his return. His gaze turning at that to his watch before looking up seeing his reflection on the windows of the Toyota, as his pace now quickened and that this was the riskiest part ….

As he now opened the trunk, his dark eyes not resting long as he gave the contents the once over; before lifting the dead weight, his gaze coming again to look at his reflection which played of the windows, in the decreasing darkness.

His gait cat like as he now picked his way forward; looking for the well trodden path, which in the little light could be seen clearly as his dark eyes fell no longer looking in either direction his pace growing surer in that moment…..

The only thing he noted was that the ground was lightly snow covered in places, thickets of grass stood out from it. As he now slowed, his bearings certain as his gaze now lifted seeing what lay ahead.

Not far off a burn lay frozen over, the Rocky Mountains rose away from it; and a little closer to him a stump of a tree stood isolated in the growing light. He gave it a second glance as he now came to a stop in this arbour.

Looking at what lay a little of the path, it was a natural impediment a shallow grave in the dark earth, as he now discarded the weight. For a moment, he stood there looking at the still form; before he took what had been in his pocket out, he placed it under the cold right hand as he did so.

As he now paused for a moment in the act hearing his own breathing in the crystal cold air before his thoughts changed. His right hand quickly discarding what covered the deep wounds. Seeing blood also in that moment but he paid no heed to it, as he once more quickly glanced around him.

There were no sounds or any sign's of live in this forlorn spot; nothing to give him away and that it was something which he knew would change and the underlying fact something vital; that his main associate wanted the victim to continue to suffer…..

As Lance Craig slowly, drew himself up to his full height his thoughts co-coordinating his actions, as he put the last signs of any wrong doings into his pocket before tentatively looking around him as his gaze once more dropped to where it had been.

Looking at the live-less still form at his feet his thoughts coming together for a moment; as the arbour maintained resurrect silence, in answer to him as his gaze stayed where it was for a moment more.

Feeling almost pity as his thoughts re-adjusted and what he could not see; but should have seen was the vultures above, which watched his every move…

As he now moved swiftly away from the scene, he did not once look back…

The snow covered mountains rose sharply in the near distance; the arbour an enclave onto those Rocky Mountains was deathly quite. The only sound to be heard was the vultures high above. They watched intently; over the still form which lay unmoving there. The rising sun hit the mountains.

Dawn light at that moment etched across the arbour; blood trickled onto the dark earth. The live was hanging by a moment; as the vultures above began to descend. Death lay near and the live which clung onto the last shreds of life. Lay far from where; that live itself had been sown…..

The dawn light increased.

Gently warming the arbour the live lay clinging marooned in the chasm between live and death as the vultures now swooped closer. Picking there moment and it was also at that moment a different sound trailed forth, filling the arbour…

It was an eerily familiar sound; it stopped the vulture's descent in that moment …

The two Labradors - continued to bark in unison.

There sounds echoed loudly round them in the arbour; as they now ran joyfully ahead of there master.

An individual who was for now, not paying any attention to them for it was neither co-incidence nor chance, which brought Ewan Scott Carnahan onto the beaten path, he was now walking.

His pace for his fifty-five years smooth; as he looked at the terrain under foot and that this path was one that he had walked every day at this hour, for the last five years, since he and his wife had moved to this lonely outcrop of Montana.

With Montana being the place where he had chosen to spend the twilight of his profession; and this foyer, which lay at the crest of Snowshoe peak was miles from the New York, landscape where his profession and live had begun.

Brooklyn and the Statue of Liberty being the landmarks of his childhood and that his profession, what he was best at had taken him miles from New York where he and his wife of thirty years had made there mark:

With them upping sticks leaving New York behind.

Bringing his career full circle in the process with New York where he had started out being one of the three large main cities he had resided in over the last two decades and it was furthermore pivotal….to how Lance Craig's main associate knew him…

As Ewan Carnahan's pace now slowed, he did not look up though his gaze still downward deep in thought and that it was here in Montana that he had found his feet – that he had left the rat race far behind.

His by the book but somewhat liberal methods paying off and that his profession, his way of live was something he had never done for the money or the stature that automatically came with his career….

The satisfaction coming from elsewhere and the scene which lay ahead of him now was about to test his professional integrity and knowledge - to its limit. As his dark blue eyes - took in the two Labradors who lay some distance from him.

There barking stopped as his gaze was temporarily, drawn elsewhere to what had caught his eye. The vultures in the sky above for a moment more, his gaze rested on them, foreboding creeping through him.

As he now without looking briefly called on the two Labradors:

'Bailey'

'Tess'

There was a whine in response to those words. The feeling inside him grew, the Labradors not moving from where they lay as his pace now quickened. The dawn light bringing the ground underfoot sharply into focus as he now came within distance of the two Labradors.

Whose gaze for a second came briefly onto his questioningly before switching back residentially and it was at that moment; he came to a dead stop. The scene itself more fitting any large city slum backdrop; than this secluded part of Montana.

As he now fully took in what his eye was seeing: the body lay, face down a yard from him, unmoving and unaware - and what he was registering. The athletic type clothing, the blue sweatshirt looking out of place, the colour bright in these surroundings, as he now moved edgily closer.

One of the Labradors barking in response, as he now looked at what was for now the only other thing drawing his attention. Something planted under the right hand obvious - as he now gingerly lifted it from its place.

For a moment, he again looked at the unmoving form the feeling of foreboding gone, as he now flipped the cheap wallet open looking at its contents - what little there was and this object. Would be all he would find on the individual before him - as he now looked at the fresh crisp one-dollar the only cash in the wallet….

He took it out placing it in his own pocket. As he now looked at the only other thing in the wallet. With there being no drivers license, nothing with an address, no credit or debit cards nor any photos and nothing that you would normally expect….

Instead, there was one thing alone…..a social security card he looked at the details on it; as his gaze slid back to the body and something which was shining at this moment in the light, a silver ring.

On the middle finger of the right hand and that, this official card in his hand at this moment would feed him all the details he would need and the further discrepancies, which were - within those details.

Would only annul the two….

As he looked, again at the silver ring, his thoughts merging his dark blue eyes now drifting and that the figure at his feet was an individual in there early to mid thirties, as he now seen what he had failed to spot.

Something which he had been looking for - moreover as he now carefully drew closer putting the wallet into his pocket for; safe keeping and at the same time not touching the mobile phone which was also in his pocket.

As he seen the trickle of blood which ran slowly from the left wrist; he examined the wound for a second. There was a tan mark as though a watch had been on the wrist; and what was obvious, for he had seen this type of wound often enough. That it had been, caused by shared glass.

His own hand now quickly reaching for the soft cotton of the sweater as he now turned the unconscious form over; taking in the handsome features of the ashen face and the dried in blood matted, in the short brown hair. There was none on the face as he pushed back the brown hair at the left temple….

For a moment, his actions stopped at that as he gazed at those further wounds.

Which were far more severe and critical than that of the wrist, which was its-self, infected looking as he looked - closer. At the two gashes deep in the left temple and the fact, none of these wounds was fresh that they were a day old…

….With the gashes being deep more than likely to have been caused; by what he could judge to be something sharp like the claw end of a hammer and what his own conclusion at this moment was that the severity of these wounds - would be irreparable….

His features turning serious at that taking in the stillness of the live which lay unconscious as his foot aware also of the blood loss there had been; something still evident. As he now carefully opened the eye. It was; dilated. His skills at last coming to the fore in that moment as he now searched for a pulse, finding it weak and slow.

He frowned, his thoughts diminishing and re-focusing as his gaze went to the two Labradors who continued to look his way as though trying to answer something for him and that the man at his foot, lay near death.

Something which may yet still claim this live his thoughts now completely focused; and that he had known with foreknowledge…what he would find on this path, on this November morning for it was; something he could have turned his back on, for another - even on this forlorn spot to find…

….And that, he could not turn a blind eye for it was for a greater far darker purpose - what he was doing now and that the live-less form at his foot was in worse shape than he could ever have imagined...

As his gaze for a moment went back to where it had been earlier but the vultures were no longer there; instead a little distance from him. He heard a brief sharp fierce cry, as he looked to his side.

To the stump of the tree, which was a little distance from him a lone golden eagle was perched there watching him and the other unusual thing, that it had not disturbed the Labradors, which lay close….

For a long moment, his gaze rested their, on the eagle as the golden eye now looked directly into his at that moment…

He did not move the meditative gaze stayed on him, before the eagle rose, flying heaven ward from its perch. His gaze moved in tandem, a different feeling crossing his thoughts that it had been a mirage for only his eye to see, as he now looked at the form at his foot….

Connecting the two in that moment his thoughts re-adjusting and that there was far less risk involved than what one Lance Craig knew; for it was his purpose in this, the part expected off him…

….For it was connected to an old acquaintance of his; and something even years later into his retirement when questioned by a Las Vegas CSI that - he would keep a lid on that fact and that the figure at his foot, would remain unaware, of that also…

With the social security card and wallet being the means to that end – and something, which would later work in not only his favor and that his part was inter-grail. It would seal fate and it was something for the time being, he would get away with…

As he looked one, last time at the figure at his foot.

Making a split second decision in that moment; one that would have far reaching consequences for the live which he was about to save and for the man, the Texan who would remain in, his care…

…Until the fall of the following year with the Texan making, his own way after that and he would do everything in his power to heal the damage which was already done with this backward part of Montana and the small one, barrel town; his clinic was at the heart off and lay a little behind him at this moment.

Being where his patient a man who he and his wife would grow to understand, would slowly recover and re-cooperate….and that the trauma from the wounds in front of him now, was per-meant with what little his patient would eventually remember would only, merge fate….

…. with there being no connection ever made in the laid back, Montana community, that his patient would find him self in; too a missing Las Vegas CSI of the same name nor to a major controversial case in Dallas and that the Texan would by diplomacy. Fall of any record kept with him looping any inquisitive neighbors; in the same way, he would the local authorities into how the Dallas borne Texan came into his care…

As he now carefully bound the slit wrist stopping the bleeding as he done so, his dark blue eyes now giving the two precise defining gashes at the left temple, a more than worried glance and that it had been the frontal lobe where the detrimental damage was extensive…as he now at last made an explicit move.

Aware that time was running out on him if he were in any way to help this lone vulnerable form at his foot and the one thing he himself would question…

That maybe it would have been better all round - had his patient not lived …

His gaze at that once more sweeping the arbour as his thoughts now personified for he was the decisive link and his other certainty at this moment…that his acutance wanted this live, the man who lay before him now to turn up eventually - elsewhere….

* * *

Dallas – Texas

He turned the corner the October mid-morning Dallas sun beat down on his shoulders as his brown eyes lifted. Taking in all that was around him as he now took a long breath, looking for a familiar landmark on this street, it was there.

For a moment he stood on worn pavement looking at it, what was before him, the street sloped gently, and a disused church was at the end small and old. Running away from it was residential housing modern next to it, with this side of the street - where he stood.

Had an every day mall and next to it was a small café and up from it was what his brown eyes were now focused on; two flags stood adjacent; they were still his brown soft eyes looked at the latter of the two. It was the flag for this state - Texas as he now touched the cool metal of the ring on his right hand as he gazed at the lone star on that flag.

His gaze now shifting to the stars and stripes of the American flag his features turned serious his thoughts subsiding in that moment and that those flags stood outside an official building as he now picked up his pace.

Passing the flags and the official building as he did so before he turned to his left to face the quant café; he had been here before it had been a place he had liked, as he now pushed the baseball hat further down on his head as he looked at his image on the glass of the door.

As he now slowly and hesitantly entered the café. The morning rush was past all eyes had lifted on his entrance. As he now stood for a moment awkwardly at the door his gaze sweeping the customers, who were now going back to what they had been doing.

It was the usual small brand of individuals for this type of café… and he had not moved. One customers gaze was still on him. A red head with shoulder length hair; whose ocean blue eyes were looking directly into his. Her attire immaculate to her surroundings and that she radiated even at this moment old style beauty…

His brown eyes stayed on her taking in the woman's professional look and manner and that she seemed somehow different to the rest of the costumers; and that she was a stranger to him….

…… A stranger amongst a sea of strangers that had brought him here to the south side of Dallas and what he did not know that the women before him know was about to change his live. As the redhead now smiled at him, it was the type of smile - which could light up any room.

As someone now nudged him pushing him forward a little, as he again came to a stop, the blue eyes staying on him also. There gaze meeting for the first with, the blue eyes searching him in the way he was her, - and what his thoughts were telling him. That the redhead was either waiting or expecting someone to enter this café and that she was the sort of person; you would not want to pick a fight with….

….Something which though he did not know it. He was about to do real, well. As he now turned missing as he did so. The look in those ocean blue eyes - which would have confirmed his every thought and that it, was him that the women had been expecting…

He stepped forward to the counter taking the rucksack of his back; a pretty brunette waitress - in her mid twenties walked forward as he now placed his order his brown eyes darted as, the brunette smiled trying to catch his eye he ignored the look.

Instead, he looked downward to the floor as he now heard the waitress speak to him; his brown eyes now lifting slowly, his hand reaching at the same time into his jeans pocket, for his wallet.

It was at that moment; he felt the light touch on his shoulder he turned a little too quickly finding himself face to face with the redhead. Who was now sending him a concerned glance, her hand was still on his shoulder as the woman now smiled taking things into her own hands:

'I'll get that Nicky'

There was a momentary pause, confusion swept through him, as his thoughts forced him to act; he stepped back away from the women as he put the rucksack back on his shoulder. The concern in the blue eyes heightened as he now found his voice, it was harsh:

'It's just Nick'

There gaze met again as the confusion across his features remained; the women's features turned serious, taking him at his word for a moment neither of them spoke as the waitress now looked between them and the wallet now in his hand.

The red head again following through as the brunette waitress turned to face her. The women now bringing out the money to pay for what he had ordered, his hand tucking his wallet back in place, as his gaze stayed on the redhead watching her and it was in that moment he seen the picture in her bag:

It was the women in front on him now with that smile he had seen earlier and beside her in the photo, he assumed by the looks, was her daughter who was also smiling for the camera, it was a sweet picture as the red head now turned to face his way the picture falling back from view.

However, the blue eyes fixed him a look and that she had seen him looking as there gaze again met. For the first time he sent a half grin her way as she now like him turned towards the food.

He lifted the food and the iced tea; she smiled at him again the blue eyes seemed to look through him as the women again spoke, she was trying to calm him:

'Mind if we talk Nick Stokes'

The tone was clear and pleasant and she had picked up the look in his features, as they looked each other in the eye.

With the blue ocean eyes being soft, and that she had at the same time, silenced whatever his next words would have been. As he continued to look her way and he was aware that he had no option, the look in those ice blue eyes giving him no leeway.

As he now nodded, his brown eyes smoldered in response though putting the rucksack back down below the table, as he took the seat across from her.

Silence descending again, he did not touch the food. Instead, he looked the redhead direct in the eye as he now touched some of the food. Before stopping, the women had noted the slight slowness in his movements; with the question, that he had not asked was what she was now, letting him ask:

'How do you know my name?'

It was a one sided question as there gaze met:

'The same way you do Nick'

There was a pause and that it had in someway been a trick question as the blue eyes cooled the redhead, giving her name as she did so as he now noted the official file in front of her:

'Catherine Grissom Las Vegas crime labs'

The blue eyes again sent him a look, one as though he were in some way meant to reply to that as he now sent her a blank look as he at last spoke his tone curt:

'Am I under arrest or something ma'am?'

His brown eyes tried to figure out the look he was now receiving; his reply had also been equally dead- pan and he could see that he had in some way amused the women across from him as the women again sent him that smile, as the red head answered him softly:

'No Nick but I was wondering if you would mind telling me where you got that silver ring your wearing?'

He froze. At the same time feeling, the colour drain from his features and that he could in no way answer her question. As his brown eyes fell away. The women's gaze now focused solely on the ring; and he knew that the women must be aware of what was, scrolled in the inside of the ring, as he now covered his hand:

'It was your grandfathers Nick'

There was a pause again; the blue eyes reading his thoughts as he now unsure of what to do or say took of the baseball hat. His hand for a second went through his short brown hair, feeling the scar at his left temple, which ran deep into his hair- line.

The blue eyes now had a shaken look about them and that the blue ocean eyes were looking at the small visible scar on his left wrist as he now pulled the sleeve of the green checked shirt down, the women again finding her voice it was soft:

'You don't wear a watch Nick'

He sent her a look, shaking his head in answer and though he felt anxious and tense he seen that he had in some way upset the red head, as his tone cut across sharp again:

'Why are you asking ma'am?'

For a moment his brown eyes looked around him, the place was now relatively empty, as the red head now sent him a direct look as she now with intuitive turned the tables on him doing it with ease as she did so:

'Call me Catherine Nick'

She sent him a delicate smile as she now tossed something down in front of him; he lifted it seeing, an old picture of himself, it shook him, as he now read the rest of the details on the official card as he now carefully. Put two and two, together:

'I worked with you?'

For a second the blue eyes looked direct into his; and that she had won in that moment both his attention and trust as the women now built on that:

'We worked together and before you came a CSI in Las Vegas; you were a cop here in Dallas where you grew up its in your blood Nick.'

The blue eyes were searching him again; he made no move to answer and that he was unsure of her words, as he tried to steady himself he took a sip of the iced tea as he now stammered out the only other thing, which came to mind:

'How do you know so much about me?'

There gaze met his serious look; reflected in the women's delicate features as the redhead's tone changed:

'You don't remember Nick do you? It was what brought you back here to Dallas though. For you do remember something.'

He tensed up his gaze stayed on her, unable to move it off those blue eyes and that she spoke truth. For what he could remember was in itself a fog, snatches of memories unable to be made whole and that the cloud that hung over his memory, was something which petered his every move and action.

As his brown soft eyes shifted of her, his gaze once more, downwards as the women's hand came gently into his own; the move taking him by surprise and that it was almost motherly, as he now moved his hand. The women placing something into his hand even as he drew away, it was a fountain pen.

His gaze turned puzzled, as he looked at the fountain pen; it was stylistic and expensive and that, it was no ordinary run of the mill pen and as if running in line with his thoughts the redhead answered the unspoken question:

'It was a present from my husband'

The women gave him a full smile, again looking at him as if he were in some way meant to comment, as he now tried to:

'Nice gift I guess your husband has good taste.'

There was a pause, the blue eyes for the first time sparkled and she was once more giving him an amused look before the features turned serious again:

'Well that's a matter of opinion Nick; and you can keep the pen but it's not the reason I gave you it'

He fidgeted nervously for a moment the blue eyes were looking through him as they once more looked directly into his:

'You've been missing for a long time Nick and you still have the evidence of what happened to you.'

The women paused before continuing:

'Mind showing me your wallet'

He glanced at her the tone was matter of fact and that she had changed the subject, as she slid him a sheet of note paper to go with the pen; the blue eyes stayed on him as he now swapped her handing her his wallet, he watched her suspiciously as she pulled a card out:

'It's not yours Nick and it's partly why we have been unable to trace you'

Silence was the only answer he did not look at her for a moment before his head slowly rose; his features turned rigged:

'You sure I'm not under arrest ma'am?'

His tone was deadly serious and like her he was aware of the significance of the social security card; which the red head had now sitting in front of her as his tone now turned cold, seeing the women flinch at his words:

'Why am I, off interest to you anyway Catherine?'

The words had been to callous and it was the first time he had used her name and what the look across those fine features were now telling him. There was a look of pain there and what his heart was telling him; that she was only trying to help him….

As the redhead now changed angle on him, his brown eyes coming to at last, once more look directly into those blue clear ocean eyes and that it would be the redhead's words in the next moment, which would leave him floored…

TO BE CONTINUED

p.s Is it any good & the next chapter is called Finding Nick if I ever get the time to write it!!!!


	6. Finding Nick

Hanging by a Moment

- Finding Nick

Chapter Six

Author: Jen

Authors Note: First & foremost a huge thanks to all who replied the last time & hopefully this chapter lives up to your expectations! It's a corker in a different way, I only hope it works!

And this is the ground work for what has yet to come so although Nick is alive he is no where near out the woods yet!!! By a long chalk more to point, I also hope the ending is not to confusing & I have Catherine sort of sharing part of Nick's load as he is not quite himself yet.

Please read & enjoy as I have sort of put already there is more than one bad guy and it's still fifty/fifty to who the other bad guy is. However I hope this really does live up to expectations, as there is a lot going on in this chapter with it being shared between Sara/Warrick/Catherine & of course Nick.

Plus if I ever get it anywhere near done there is still some surprises in store & a cliffhanger plus I still got the family storyline along with a father/son storyline with a twist and a half to deal with yet! So this is just a building chapter, with some thrills!!!

Anyway I really want this to work, for it's a great story & hopefully a great read as well, it goes kind of dark at end again but it was only because I had too!

Alright enough pro-form and here really goes nothing & these characters in no way belong to me, they belong to CBS, the powers that be & the actors who play them & I'm just wanting to add to that & try and get the heart and soul which makes CSI what it is!!!!

N/S & G/C plus look out for one new little character for he has had one heck of a wait!!!

Jen

* * *

Prologue

_Li__fe is but a moment;_

_We are but grains of sand, adrift under the stars__…_

_Time the only continuum; and sometimes what was once _

_Thought__ lost is returned…_

_A__ stranger to us, as we are to it, unfamiliar and desolate_

_Changed beyond recognition - a stranger to us still…_

_Yet it is bound to us._

_As we are to the stars; for it is the bond which encircles us…_

…_and if that bond is strong enough, that what was once lost, _

_Shall be made whole - but even that comes at a price …_

* * *

The piercing cry filled the room her heart lurched at that sound; as the hand which had tightly gripped hers fell from her grasp. Dawn light etched across the room. Sara Sidle's dark starlight eyes slowly opened in that moment…

As the cry redoubled; the cry of a son, already crying for a father who was not there….as she took a breath. Her thoughts thinking only of him the man who was not here - to share this with her as her gaze re-adjusted.

Taking in all that was happening around her; as there child. His son was carefully and gently placed into her arms, the ting form's cry diminishing in that moment; she smiled watching this little lives; first movements it entranced her…..

Her hand coming up at that moment to gently touch the cheek of the baby lying contentedly in her arms; the creamy skin delicate and soft, as the tiny hand moved with her touch. Her smile blossoming in that moment, taking in the wisps of brown hair as she gently kissed the fore-head…

…Before tenderly going back to take in every tiny detail of the baby in her arms. The exhaustion of the birth past; her dark eyes resting lovingly on the little live, who was taking up all her attention as she now let her son, feed for the first. The tiny form neutering the nipple at the full breast…

It hurt but only a little, as the baby, continued to feed; her gaze going back at that to the individual and person who had held her hand throughout this; her colleague as there gaze met. It needed no words.

As Warrick Brown sent her a smile she sent the same one back giving the hand which had held hers; a squeeze before her gaze, returned to where it had been….

The baby giving a, content sigh in that moment the feed finished; as the eye lids flickered, before opening fully. The brown warm eyes focused only on her; in that moment– and that they were already that distinct shade of brown….with this little live, taking in all that was around him; as she looked deep into those soft still brown pools.

Which had come from; only one place…..

Her dark eyes closing in that moment thinking of him, before slowly opening, looking once more into those brown warm eyes of - there son, whose gaze was tenderly on her.

Tears threatening to overwhelm her again; as she took in the look across those tiny features - the part of him which was left to her; guilt flooding through her in that moment….

A tear running freely down her cheek at that thought. With the tiny features turning from the serious look she had been receiving to quizzical with there somehow being, a look of understanding in those warm brown eyes….

As Warrick now tried to gently divert her thoughts, touching her shoulder in support:

'You're going to have your work cut out for you Sara'

His hand gently touched Sara's shoulder in that moment – the women beside him now sending him a glance, as there gaze met …

With Sara's dark intelligent gaze returning to where it had been.

To the little live - for a moment not replying to Warrick's words as her gaze moved in that moment to dawn light… which now completely filled this room her thoughts going inwards at that moment.

As her dark eyes closed before slowly opening; her gaze etched on that light which encircled this room…. her thoughts becoming one looking again at the tiny form asleep in her arms….

With Warrick's words being the first words between them; since this little lives arrival, as she now played on the look, which was across her colleague's features as she sent him a smile.

Replying, to that comment:

'I would not want it any other way Warrick'

The dark eyes again sent him a glance before moving back; his own gaze staying at that on the independent women beside him, taking in at that moment also. The close intimate bond between mother and child….

….For a moment more his gaze held on the little form, cradled peacefully in Sara's arms as his gaze now like Sara's moments before. Went to the dawn light; as he looked at the rising sun and the light making a connection in that moment….

As his gaze moved at that moment back to Sara and the baby in her arms; and the look which was across the fine features of his colleague. There was a full smile there, something he had not seen across those gentle features in a long time and how much the baby in Sara's arms meant….and to not only Sara….

For it was what that cry a few moments ago had given him….

Something he had thought gone; and more importantly it was something that he had not felt in these months since that fatal day - till now….

As he now voiced it carefully in a different way:

'He has your spirit Sara but the rest comes from elsewhere. He sure is cute any roads'

His colleague planted him a smile; as he added one further comment:

'Plus he's got his fathers lungs by the looks of it'

For a moment nothing was said his; with Sara's dark eyes sending him another look. The smile now broadening, across his colleague's features as his gaze went from the little scene in front of him, to Las Vegas which was shining in the early morning sun and that this scene…

….Was something so special and unique; for it was something miles from the tandem and modality of everyday live. As he now made a further connection in that moment, for it was something which was somehow connected to Nick….

….For this was no ordinary date either; for it was not only the beginning of July. It was the Fourth of July: Independence Day and there was significance in that. As he looked again at Sara and the baby in her arms…the brown soft eyes blessing him with a look in that moment….

As he now asked something of importance:

'You got a name for this little fellow yet Sara?'

The question crossed her thoughts her gaze remaining tenderly, on the little live who was taking up all of her attention. As those brown eyes once more flickered, open at that moment a yawn also escalating across those dainty features before the look turned serious.

She smiled the brown warm eyes meeting her own; and that there was only one name she could give this child…for it belonged to the vulnerable strong man who she loved, whose heart beat one with hers…as the tiny features changed the serious look gone instead there was a hint of a smile there.

As she now softly voiced the full name; a tear running down her cheek in that same moment:

'Nicholas Stokes'

The brown eyes glinted into hers in that moment also as; she now affectionately shortened it – to the name which belonged only to this little boy's father, a smile coming to her features at that moment her thought's one….

As the brown gentle warm eyes of his son kept there steady gaze on her as if reading her every thought:

'Nicky'

The features again in that moment giving her that serious look in response, a different smile tugging across her own features at that look as Warrick replied:

'Nice name Sara'

There gaze met - the women beside him turning her attention lovingly back to the little form cradled in her arms and who held both of there attention and the look which was now. Back across those tiny features - there was a hint of smile again as his thoughts found voice:

'I think Nicky here is in agreement'

Sara's gaze meeting his again at that a smile once more crossing her features before the women at his side. Dark starlight gaze fell once more to where they had been; as he looked once more between the two his thoughts shifting in that moment…

Seeing the look on Sara's features and though the fine features were still pale. The dark starlight eyes were vibrant; the fire in them renewed with this little live; helping to ease some of the pain which lay deep in those dark starlight eyes…

….As his gaze stayed on Sara with this little boy, who lay contently in his mother's arms and who was named after his father; would continue to depend on her… as his gaze now shifted between mother and child and the tenderness there and what he could not help but feel at this moment….

That it should be someone else standing here now….

Someone's rightful place and that individual would be there for Sara in a way he could not be.

As his thoughts stayed there thinking of that individual, a person still missing; and that what he had felt months ago in a darkened apartment….

Was something he now felt, in a different way, that it seemed neither right nor fair that Nick had not lived to see this; as those soft brown eyes of Nick's own son - looked once more into his…

* * *

….With it being that same plain, of thought which was with him now these years later. As he looked at the five year old who sat beside him. The brown warm eyes for the moment focused on the monitor, as the boy now turned to face his way the brown hair slightly ruffled giving him that smile:

'Beat you again Warrick'

The tone was soft and enthusiastic there gaze met, the smile broadening in that moment across those defined features:

'Next game's yours Warrick'

The brown warm eyes once more sent him a glance looking for a reply, the golden smile staying in place also; he smiled back taking in the look not commenting straight away and that this boy who stood at his knee height…..

Was the gallant mixture of both his parents; with him inheriting among other things his mother's spirit and her curiosity something which had stood him in good stead and that like his mother, also...

….This brown eyed energetic - five year old could hurtle a comment out of nowhere at you; and combined with it in those moments. Was the humour and wit which had been his fathers and it was something which when the moment called for it; could lighten up any situation and warm any heart…

As he looked once more at the boy who sat beside him the brown gentle eyes once more looking into his as he for - not the first time took in the strong resemblance there, to his father.

Before replying giving the five year old a serious look:

'Who says there's going to be another game Nicky?'

The brown warm eyes turned to shear innocence in that moment, the set features turning serious and that there was a look of disbelief across those features. As he now played of the look in the brown eyes - by once more at the last moment starting the games console.

A smile playing back across the young strong features in that moment; as he again took in the look in the brown warm eyes. With there now being a look of stubborn determination - also on the young set features and like everyone else:

He knew which one of his parents this boy took most after; something which in itself had been inevitable. For it was not only in the fact. That it was who he had been named after…..his own features turning somber in that moment; and maybe it was because Nick was not there it was seen so much.

Yet it went beyond that; for it was not only that this little boy looked so much like him, it was the fact that this, enthusiastic five year old…

….Had his father's warmth of personality and heart and what could be seen at this moment the mannerisms and gestures which belonged only to his father - something which brought a smile to his own features and though there was a little resemblance to Sara in those strong features….

It was the underlying look of the individual.

Who this boy had not once seen or known which resided there; and that it was something that had brought to each of them both great joy and pain seeing this little boy grow up.

His gaze at that turning back to the charismatic kid at his side; and one other thing he was certain of for it was without doubt what this boy had inherited from his father. That he was forever without fail; landing himself in trouble or one scrape or other…

With Nicky Stokes like both his parents; making these labs where they were now, his home and that he was a welcome if not cheerful sight here. Where he more often that not caused as much mayhem and commotion as any five year old could; for it was something immeasurable in its own right…

….That serious but easy going nature off his - and what it was combined with the innocent sensitive edge which seemed only to belong to him as a smile - came to his, own features….

The brown eyes once more sending, him a look at that moment. As though he had been reading his thoughts; as he now temporarily paid close attention to the computer game, trying to catch his opponent out - something which was, not proving too easy….

His own thoughts turning inwards as he looked once more to the boy who sat happily beside him; whose thoughts and concentration were elsewhere. As his own thoughts now magnified thinking of this boy's mother and his colleague – Sara Sidle…

That she had as a single mother; done the work of two and that she had in every way put this little boy first. That he was the center of her live with Sara; bringing him up in every way possible to know Nick - with no one else filling this boy's father's place…

…..Sara remaining true to Nick, in the way he would have done to her; and it was the bringing up of her son, which Sara had put first above all else. As he looked again at the five year old who sat beside him - and like everyone else.

He knew the guilt Sara could not help but feel….

For it was something they all felt in a different way and that it had irretrievably only grown with the years - for the man who should have been there at her side to see this and that like Greg…he had become a surrogate father to this kid.

As he looked again at the boy beside him; and what he was aware of for it was something he could not help but feel…. that he fell a long way short to the man who was this boy's father; and that Nick's last words to him….

That he owed him one big time.

Was something which did not involve - the bringing up, of his son for this was something; he would have done without question, his gaze falling without thinking, to look once more…into those brown soft innocent eyes; of the five year old beside him, and what was clear now….

Something unchanged unlike the faces which had come and gone in these labs; with Greg now being a CSI three in his own right and what he knew with regret and sadness - for it was something he seen in the boy beside him and had been part of his father also.

That when it came to the same level of competition and skill….

…There had only ever been one individual in the same league as him Warrick Brown; and that was Nick Stokes with no one else coming anywhere near close and though Nick's methods and ways had been completely different, he had never the less got there sometimes outdoing him in the process….

As his thoughts rebounded coming to the present at that moment; and that he still owed Nick big time – as he looked at the five year old beside him, turning his attention back to the game at that moment; where this five year old, like his father had a gift for this sort of thing….

….His thoughts playing on that; and that he was a bright kid for all his age. As his thought's clouded at that moment; looking at the serious look in those brown warm eyes, for it was something which brought new pain….

To what this little boy had been protected from - to what had happened to his father and what his own thoughts were….

That time had only welded the evidence plus its outcome. Yet it was something even now he refused to take as fact; and the Texan. The man who he had looked upon as a younger brother; and who had been his fiercest competitor was still missing….

…..With no body turning up; and it was something he was thankful for. As he looked at the boy beside him and what went with that. The hope which lay unspoken and entwined with this five year old beside him….

As his thoughts dwindled to all that there investigation in his colleague's name had lead, the pain and legacy which went with it and to Nick's family in Dallas, a family which Sara had kept in contact with – and something re-forged in a different way with this child….

With the stand off remaining between them and Ryan Stokes for it was incoherently hinged - with the decadence and absolution of there investigation; and of what Sara, like this boy beside him were unaware off.

That twice before Gil; had sent Catherine once to Boston and once to Dallas in the blind hope of finding Nick alive. With neither of those times bringing any success and the only other thing which had changed on that front - something Sara was aware off. …

….For it was something that had brought them no answers for any truth had died with him – that Matthew Garrett the individual who Ryan Stokes had taken down and the man held responsible for his missing colleague was dead….

His thoughts coming to an abrupt halt at that, as his attention was flung into the present - to the monitor. Seeing he was winning, something which did not happen to often; however it was the look on his opponents features which was drawing his attention more.

As the boy beside him now stopped playing completely; looking his way instead, the brown eyes giving him a look of fear also as the five year jumped agilely at that moment to his feet, coming up beside him also. As a sharp voice filled the small room:

'Not got anything better to do Warrick?'

For a moment he did not turn to look to the person who had spoken, instead his gaze stayed on Nicky Stokes. The boy's eyes once, more meeting his at that moment, in a ting gesture of support as he now turned to face the individual who had spoken.

It was Ecklie he stood articulately at the open door. As he now carefully replied looking beyond one Conrad Ecklie - to Gil's office, way at the opposite end of the long corridor, it was all dark.

As his own tone now tried to lighten the sharpness of that comment; which had been given - and at the same time speak to the boy beside him:

'Depends what you call better Ecklie and Nicky here could give you a fair run for your money is that not right?'

The boy beside him nodded giving him a puzzled look; aware that there was something else a foot. As the brown eyes shifted of him back onto to Ecklie's pasty features; to see what was coming next.

As Ecklie gave the boy beside him a deadly look, the tone curt:

'Not heard from Catherine yet?'

It was a question directed at him but it ran far deeper, with the little boy beside him picking, up on it as his own gaze dropped to the five year old. His thoughts once more turning inwards as he - shifted a look at Ecklie.

For it was something this boy's mother was also unaware off; the real reason why Catherine was in Dallas now…on a missing person case - the one in his colleague's name; as he looked again at the boy beside him and that it had been for both there sake's that Gil had left it that way….

…..With Grissom playing a hunch something itself once unheard off; and that this one was also long chalk and what he himself felt. That this missing person; was different from those times before and that there was a small chance minimal though it was…

That Nicky Stokes his once colleague and friend was still out there - with Greg's words years before remaining and though they had not found him; he like the rest of the team had not given up hope this boy beside him adding to that.

As his thoughts broke at that moment; his gaze staying where it was - for the record, stated otherwise….

….That Nick was dead, his name remaining as a missing person by default. With everything they had as evidence backing that up; and what went with it - that there had been no closure…

His gaze shifting at that to the boy who stood between him and Ecklie his thought's grinding at that moment, taking in once more the look in those warm brown eyes; and the one further thought one - beyond his usual perimeter of thinking…for it went against the odds but belonged intangibly with that Texan. …

That maybe Nick was -alive….

As his gaze came to meet Ecklie's his features turning serious the thought meandering also; wondering in that same moment, why Ecklie was so interested in what Catherine was doing in Dallas….

His gaze shifting once more back to Nicky Stokes the brown eyes glanced into his, as though he had been thinking the same sort of thing; as he now replied his thoughts one, the boy catching the tone of his words:

'We've not heard from Catherine Ecklie'

There gaze crossed. He continued:

'Not that it's any of your business anyway.'

There was a pause. With his words only being a half truth; that Catherine had phoned to tell them she had arrived safely in Dallas – something now two days past. With there being no word from her since…something which he knew had Grissom worried…

That it was not like the red-head; as Nicky Stokes brown eyes once more drifted back of Ecklie at that moment. The boy sending him a grin aware of what he was doing - as his own thoughts collaborated at that moment; and that if Gil's hunch…

One which was based neither on science or theory but human nature; were in anyway correct….

Then the investigation in his colleague's name - what had lead, them to Dallas Nick's family. His late father, Ryan Stokes; and Matthew Garrett would once more wide open and what went with it…..

….As his thoughts cascaded in that moment; his emotions clashing. The possibility that Garrett a man know dead may not have worked alone with the implications - being too far reaching and what he knew looking at this boy beside him….

That even if this missing person was Nick - then he would not be the individual he once knew as Ecklie again spoke:

'Some people have the right to know Warrick'

The tone was dark and cold, as Ecklie now gave a thin smile - it was directed specifically at the boy who stood between them; as he now protectively touched Nicky's shoulder.

Bringing the boy closer to him; away from Ecklie - silence filling the air in that moment….

Ecklie continuing to glance between them; before moving away from the open door moving out there sight; the thin smile staying, across those pasty features and that his words had been enough….

With Nicky Stokes brown eyes falling back onto him; there was a look of puzzlement and fear in those soft brown pools, the features turning serious in that moment as the boy at his side – voiced what both there thought's were.

The tone soft:

'I hate that guy Warrick'

There gaze met. The brown warm eyes looked innocently into his; the smile returning to those defined features with Nicky Stokes - making nothing more of Ecklie's words. As he once more took in the look across those strong features; and what was with him at this moment….

...That for a moment there, it was no longer a five year old beside him; but this boy's father as his gaze remained where it was his thoughts gliding back, to where they had been; as the boy continued to look his way….

Nicky Stokes taking his hand at that moment; smiling with the boy beside him, trying to divert his thoughts. Something he was unable to do; as the brown eyes again sent him a look, the golden smile playing again of those features.

As his thoughts went into free fall, thinking of Catherine wondering again in that moment; how his colleague was doing in Dallas and if the individual…the person who Gil's hunch was based on….

Was, the man and friend he once knew – Nick Stokes….

* * *

Catherine Grissom's blue ocean eyes lifted her gaze staying where it was; as the other customers in this café - went back to what they had been doing. As her own gaze stayed fixed where it was; taking in the individual who stood just inside the café door.

Feeling her breath catch in that moment, as her blue eyes slowly took time and precision - to fully acquaint the image of the man who stood before her:

The handsome features were pale and withdrawn; half hidden under the baseball hat which covered the brown hair. The gait nervous; and that he was of medium height and athletic build, as she took in the slight slump of the shoulders.

With the denim jeans and green checked shirt adding to it - giving a faintly disheveled look; her gaze at that, seeing the rucksack on his back and the slight stubble across the square jaw line.

As the person stood not moving from the spot; as the brown soft eyes for a moment looked her way, addressing her. As someone now nudged the individual, pushing him forward.

The brown warm eyes meeting her own in that moment, acknowledging her fully as she sent him a smile; seeing in that moment also, a glimpse of what was going on behind there, that he was searching her - as she was him.

Her blue eyes not wavering; as the brown eyes continued to look her way for a moment more and what was apparent at this moment…..that he in no way recognized her. That she was a stranger to him - as she again took in the nervousness of his movements….

Watching him place his order; at that moment.

As she now stepped forward for a moment more - holding back seeing the head bow as if in thought. The set features turning serious; and that the individual in his late thirties was ignoring the waitress, who was trying her best to catch his eye as she now made her way forward.

Seeing him reach for his wallet, with professional conduct giving away to emotion as she drew close and what at this moment she was sure off; that it was the missing person she had been looking for…

Her hand lightly touching the shoulder - at that moment, with him turning a little too quickly to face her; feeling him quake at her touch. Her hand still resting on the shoulder as her blue ocean eyes stayed, on those soft brown ones.

With her thoughts and emotions finding voice:

'I'll get that Nicky'

There was a pause as she seen the fear which shone in the brown eyes grow and that there was a clear look of confusion there also. As he now stepped back away from her, putting the rucksack back on his shoulder. The brown eyes glanced into hers, the tone insensitive:

'It's just Nick'

For a moment there gaze met at that, the individual beside; her growing more nervous as the waitress looked between them. Her blue eyes falling back onto him at that moment with neither or them speaking; the look of fear subsiding slightly in those brown eyes.

As she took things into her own hands, paying for the food; as he carefully with no further comment, put the wallet back into his pocket, the brown warm eyes staying on her though - watching her every move…

…..His gaze falling to the open bag and the picture there as she now turned to face him; the head rising, at that moment a different look across those handsome features as, she fixed him a look this time receiving a grin.

With them both turning to the food at the same moment; letting him lift it a smile coming to her, own features as she tried to now calm him:

'Mind if we talk Nick Stokes'

The brown eyes shifted her a glare, as she now stayed where she was letting him consider her for a moment; the look once more changing across those handsome features, the brown eyes darkening as he nodded her way.

There gaze remaining set on each other for a moment more before taking a seat; as she watched him discard the rucksack, silence once more filling the gap, with him not touching the hot food.

The brown eyes sending her a direct look, at that; as he now touched some of the food, the movements slow and what it told her - that it confirmed something; as he now stopped asking the one thing which she knew he would:

'How do you know my name?'

It was the gentlest of tones as the brown soft eyes looked for a moment deep in to her own as she replied, lifting the missing person file and fountain pen at the same time:

'The same way you do Nick'

There gaze met, as she now carefully addressed him formally:

'Catherine Grissom Las Vegas crime labs'

The brown eyes sent her a blank look as he replied:

'Am I under arrest or something ma'am?'

A smile broke across her features, without meaning too; there gaze meeting. With the brown eyes sending her a serious look at that moment, as she breached the subject:

'No Nick but I was wondering if you would mind telling me where you got that silver ring your wearing?'

The brown eyes glanced for a moment into hers – before slowly falling. Her blue ocean eyes locking onto the silver ring at that moment; and the deep significance that one small possession held.

For it had helped find him - as she voiced it in a different way; watching him cover his hand in that moment:

'It was your grandfathers Nick'

There was a pause; and that her words had shaken him, the brown eyes softening. As he now slowly took the baseball hat off. The left hand going through the short brown hair as her gaze took in the scar on the left temple; it ran deep into the hair line.

Her gaze unable to move off it; as the brown eyes for a moment looked clearly into her own, her blue eyes moving at that, to the visible scar on the left wrist as her thoughts found voice:

'You don't wear a watch Nick'

The brown eyes shifted her - a direct glance, shaking his head in answer, questioning her in that same moment; and that he had caught. That it was something which had upset her:

'Why are you asking ma'am?'

His gaze diverting; off her.

To look around him - as she took in the look in those warm brown eyes and across the handsome set features.

As she tried to now draw his attention:

'Call me Catherine Nick'

She smiled her features like his turning serious as she took the card from the front of the official file out tossing it across to him.

As her blue eyes watched his response; the brown eyes slowly rising to meet her own, and that for the first time she had his complete attention. As the soft Texan accent drifted across to her:

'I worked with you?'

His gaze gave her a direct look.

For a moment the words hung there, with her making now move to answer the silence answering instead; as her gaze remained steady.

As she now slowly tried to build on the look which was, in those brown warm eyes:

'We worked together and before you came a CSI in Las Vegas; you were a cop here in Dallas where you grew up its in your blood Nick.'

Silence filling the void in that moment as she continued to look his way; the features tensing up and what she knew in herself – that, her words. Had been too much for him to take in; as she seen him now try to steady himself.

Taking a sip of the iced tea before replying, it was a stammer:

'How do you know so much about me?'

The tone hit her heart; the brown eyes searching her. As the confusion heightened in those warm brown eyes with her words - only adding to the clear look of pain which shone in those brown still depths, her thoughts and emotions become one in that moment…..

With the first part of her next words; being fact for it was something she now, had hard evidence off and that it was in the form of medical data:

'You don't remember Nick do you? It was what brought you back here to Dallas though. For you do remember something.'

The brown eyes stayed on her - sensing him tense up in that same moment as he sent her a look it broke her heart; the brown soft eyes now falling away from her, the head bowing in that moment.

Her own emotions surfacing - as she linked his cold gentle hand with her own, his drawing away; at that moment as she placed the fountain pen. What had been a gift from Gil, not long after there marriage into his hand…

…..As she seen his thoughts re-focus and that if she was to make any head-way at all, then it would be in a different way, that she did not want to upset him anymore than she had too.

Seeing the look of puzzlement again and the unformed question in the brown eyes:

'It was a present from my husband'

The brown eyes lifted; she smiled his way as the rich Texan accent drifted across to her:

'Nice gift I guess your husband has good taste.'

It was the same dead-pan tone which he had given earlier; as she looked once more into those warm brown eyes, with her ocean blue eyes sparkling at that moment - unable to hide her amusement at the un-witted humour, of that comment.

With her features like the individual across from her now turning serious again; and that he did not know her….

As she looked at the fountain pen:

'Well that's a matter of opinion Nick; and you can keep the pen but it's not the reason I gave you it'

The handsome features relaxed.

Her gaze giving him a direct look, as she now tried to figure out the best way to put - what she had to say next and that it was the hardest part; as she went for the direct approach:

'You've been missing for a long time Nick and you still have the evidence of what happened to you.'

She paused taking a gamble and that it was indirectly linked to Gil's hunch:

'Mind showing me your wallet'

Her own hand drawing a sheet of note paper across to him at that moment and that like her - he knew she had changed the subject. As he now swapped her, giving her his wallet.

The brown eyes giving her a suspicious look in that moment; as she opened the wallet drawing a card out as she did so. Her gaze looking at the number on the authentic looking card - and what she did know….

That this social security number was only a small piece of the puzzle…..

As she looked once more into those brown eyes:

'It's not yours Nick and it's partly why we have been unable to trace you'

For a moment silence filled the air, his gaze diverting of her as she seen the handsome features stiffen.

The brown soft eyes turning the same shade that they had earlier; the tone serious - and that she had lost whatever fragile ground she had made:

'You sure I'm not under arrest ma'am?'

The look in the brown eyes darkening with him not giving her a chance to answer, his next words clutching her heart:

'Why am I, off interest to you anyway Catherine?'

His gaze met hers.

She flinched at the tone.

With it being the first time he had used her name; as she looked once more into those brown warm eyes that told her - it was Nick….

As her blue eyes for a moment closed, her thoughts focusing on a day long past and which involved this vulnerable strong man; with her blue eyes opening at that moment as her thoughts rebounded to the present.

Her head lifting at that; with the look which had been there moments before in the brown eyes subsiding slightly, as she looked deep into those brown warm eye, her thoughts turning to his family here in Dallas and then to Sara.

As her thoughts once more found voice:

'There is, a lot of people who care about you Nick more than you'll ever know; and you're not under arrest for you've done no wrong to anyone are we clear on that.'

The blue ocean eyes looked clearly into his.

With the red-head continuing to look his way; the words throwing him and that there was something more in those words, as she continued:

'Its part of your nature Nick and even with that scar on your left temple it does not take away from who you are and I'll prove it to you.'

There gaze met he made no move to answer her. His brown eyes instead giving Catherine Grissom a stubborn look with the red-head picking up on it - there gaze maintaining a level stance.

As the independent women across from him now played on that, as she told him something superficial:

'It was my husband's hunch which helped find you Nick and being stubborn seems to be a Stokes trait '

His features turned to a frown his brown eyes briefly shifting to the food he had discarded and the baseball hat and that she had once more in a matter of moments thrown him; as he looked again at his wallet and the social security card which were still in front of her.

As his brown eyes lifted too look into the ocean blue eyes. For a long moment his gaze rested on the red-head. The women again giving him that delicate smile and that she had his trust; as the blue eyes fell to the fountain pen, which he still held in his hand.

There gaze meeting at that moment:

'You want my signature?'

The tone was serious the brown eyes darting of her briefly, before coming to look once more directly into her own. She nodded in answer, the handsome set features shifting her, another look at that.

As he now, with no further comment - scrolled his name on the note paper….

His brown eyes lifted keeping the fountain pen in his hand. As he gingerly handed the piece of note paper over to the red-head; the strong women for a moment no longer, looking his way.

Instead concentrating on what was in front of her.

As she looked at these two signatures right in front of her, one the ink was just drying, the other was an eight year old signature but they were both the same hand writing.

The blue ocean eyes, coming back on to him - at that moment and that there was a different look in them; one that he could, not quite fathom.

As that full smile once more crossed; the red-head's delicate features….

She smiled as a pair of brown eyes searched hers for understanding, Grissom had been right on the hunch that had brought her all the way here to this café on the suburbs of Dallas, it had been a long time coming, a lot had changed in that time as well but it was worth it as she looked in those brown eyes that still did not know her yet.

With there being, a possibility that he might never remember her; and that it did not take away from the fact. She had none the less found him….

As she tried once more too draw his attention:

'Know anything about dimpled ballots Nick?'

He gave the red-head a glance.

The blue eyes looked directly into his, it left no room for manoeuvre; as he now gave her a serious look shaking his head in answer, as his gaze switched back temporarily to the fountain pen.

Sitting it in front of him as he replied:

'Is there any reason why I should ma'am?'

There was a questioning look in the brown eyes as she now with no further comment; handed him back the freshly signed note paper, along with the older signature. There fingertips touching in that moment…as his gaze swept over the signatures, his head lifting at that.

The blue eyes sent him a look, the red-head taking it as her queue:

'No one signature should be the exact same Nick and you just proved, that but it also states for the record, who you are.'

The blue eyes continued to look his way. As his gaze buckled to what she had tossed him earlier. As he slowly lifted the CSI three card up; his brown eyes looking at it as his hand lifted coming up to his left temple.

Keeping it there - before slowly letting his hand drop; his voice shook, as he voiced his next question as he sat the CSI three card back down and that he was once more making it hard for her:

'You've made your point ma'am but where are you going with it?'

She smiled and that it was the question she had wanted him to ask; as she now gave him something to go on:

'You arrived in Dallas just over a week ago Nick; and you caused a little commotion when you did is that not right?'

The blue eyes sparkled, his features for a moment reddening slightly, with the red-head taking his now, silence as omission:

'It was a cadet cop who picked up on your name and it's a pretty familiar surname in these parts; but it was the two things that got his attention in the first place that interested my husband.'

Her gaze stayed level the brown eyes not wavering off her; as she continued giving the facts which had been of interest to Gil:

'It was a woman of your age Nick; and she was on the same greyhound bus as you, one which had travelled from just outside Oklahoma City.'

He looked the red-heads way not saying anything.

As the tone once more changed the blue eyes glinted into his:

'You were doing what you thought was right. Helping someone out and it's something which is simply part of your Nick.'

It was at that moment he cut her off - his tone matching hers:

'Her husband was giving her a hard time'

The brown eyes gave her a sharp look she smiled his way:

'It was a good thing that cadet cop intervened when he did Nick and you have not lost either your charm or your wit - but do you want to know something.'

His head rose the blue ocean eye's played of his:

'What?'

'It was the woman's first name that interested us Nick; and you seem to have the knack of landing yourself into trouble without meaning to.'

There gaze met the brown eyes once more shifted her, a look:

'The woman who you helped out her name was Grace.'

She paused there for a moment; giving him a little time seeing the handsome features whiten, before preceding picking her next words more carefully:

'It was your mothers name and the cadet cop who questioned you at the time.'

The blue eyes met his, her statement holding there - and that she was looking for him to continue, trying to get him to talk:

'I did not give him much to go on Catherine'

There was a moment's pause the red-head smiled, following through on his comment:

'No Nick you did not give him much, but you did give him one thing and he also noticed that silver ring you're wearing.'

The women sent him a direct glance:

'He told his senior cop afterwards about you.'

She stopped looking into the brown eyes for confirmation; and that he had got the just of where she was going, as she now hit him with her main point:

'Max Calder was the senior cop Nick, he was also your work colleague at one time and it was him who contacted my husband Gil Grissom'

He sent the red-head an indirect look, as the blue eyes sparkled:

'My husband is not one to go on a hunch Nick; but he was certain it was you.'

His gaze slid back off her at that moment – the words making him more anxious and that he was making no move to help her out….

The independent woman across from him, not being put off though; as she now placed two official looking documents in front of him, forcing him to lift the fountain pen - as his gaze carefully, studied the two documents in his name.

They were closely similar - as his gaze looked at the date on the top right hand side of both sheets, it was his date of birth and the piece of information. He had given the cadet cop.

As he nervously sat the fountain pen back on the table; noting the different social security numbers on the two documents as, his brown eyes continued to study the data more closely.

With the one on his left hand side differing more as he made - a connection of a different sort, something linked to what he could remember and what the red-head had already mentioned in a different way:

'My parent's Catherine?'

The brown soft eyes focused on her; the tone giving more than the question as his gaze stayed on her and what her heart was now - telling her, that her answer would only add more pain.

As she now slowly answered his question; trying at the same time, to maintain her earlier stance but finding herself unable to:

'There both dead Nick'

The blue eyes looked into his the women hesitating at that moment; as his shoulders slumped forward a little. With the red-head's gaze staying on him - not saying anything more and that she was trying to gage his response.

With her words not surprising him that it was something; he had somehow expected. As there gaze once more met and what he was aware off at this moment. That she was protecting him from something - as Catherine Grissom's soft tone drifted across to him:

'You were hard to track down Nick; but it was not only because of the social security card.'

There was a moment's silence; and that she was again trying to switch subject on him as the red-head once more lifted his wallet. This time looking at its contents:

'Not much here Nick, apart from cash and you don't keep a credit or debit card.'

He sent her a glance not commenting, as she smiled his way:

'You don't have a mobile phone plus you don't drive either, because of that gash on your head.'

There gaze met as his brown eyes fell once more.

Silence descending again between them with the blue ocean eyes staying focused on him, with the women across from him. Picking that moment to hand him, his wallet back sitting it on the centre of the table; beside the official documents in front of him and that she had kept - the social security card.

As he now lifted the wallet, the blue ocean eyes glinting into his. As he replied, his tone giving a hint of annoyance:

'Ma'am what has that, to do with any of this?'

He tapped the documents in front of him his features turning to a scowl. His brown eyes meeting the blue ocean ones, as the red-head's tone turned decisive:

'Everything Nick and you played smart; out of fear more than anything. For even with this social security number you're hardly on the system.'

Her tone for the first time completely hitting the mark - as the brown eyes now looked square into her own; with the nervousness in his movements still being there. As she pushed back her emotions stating instead, the facts which had been pivotal to Grissom:

'You formed a pattern Nick, the same as you've done right here in Dallas; for you've come in here every second day since you arrived.'

His head rose, the red-head not stopping:

'It was how we located you Nick but it goes beyond that; plus it's a little more tricky getting work round here, than what you've been used too.'

She paused.

Her thoughts for a moment turning inwards; to the two days she had spent here in Dallas with locating him being the easy part. As she now carefully merged her thoughts - going for the wider scale:

'You drifted Nick keeping your head down, not staying long in any one place; and you took any job you could get.'

The red-head stopped, the move taking him off guard slightly. As she gave his rucksack at his foot a gentle kick:

'Don't have very many belonging's either Nicky'

The blue eyes flared - and that it had been the second time she had called him by that name; as his gaze like hers fell at that moment, to the official documents in front of him:

'It was the back waters of the middle states, where we found your trail though in South Dakota more to the point; and nobody forgets someone with good looks in a hurry either Nick.'

She smiled seeing her words have an effect. As the handsome set features turned to a frown as she now looped her thoughts and what Gil, was yet unaware off:

'You've made your way slowly south Nick through the great plains; and you did not let anyone get close but you still managed to leave a trail and an impression'

The red-head sent him a glance - the look in the ocean blue eyes saying something more, as the woman across from him, now picked up her pace touching the document on his left hand side:

'The information on here accounts for that Nick; and it's combined with the rest of your details.'

Her gaze moved his also, as the brown eyes for a moment briefly met hers - as she took the intuitive:

'Its names and addresses of people who you've stayed with; and there is one location, where you did stay for a length of time.'

The blue ocean eyes sent him a direct look. His gaze unable to divert off her, as the tone now deliberately sharpened:

'Just outside Jennings in Montana a small township; like most that you've stayed in Nick and you like the mountains.'

It was a direct statement not a question; as the red-head now cornered him:

'You don't remember how you received that gash to the side of your head Nick; but it was no accident that you turned up in Montana when you did.'

The brown warm eyes turned to shear innocence at that moment. The look alone going straight to her heart; with him struggling with the vastness of what she was trying to tell him.

As she now linked something of importance feeling her voice give way:

'Ewan Scott Carnahan saved you're live Nick.'

There was a brief pause. The words sending him into free fall at that moment; as the red-head regained her momentum:

'But he also lied to you. In the same way he did to the local authorities at that time and its something almost six years past.'

The blue eyes locked on his. As tried to fully contemplate at that moment. What she was trying to tell him his gaze swooping at that…

To what was in front of him scanning the official documents further and that he knew the individual she was talking about as his features – darkened, no longer taking her at her word and that he was fighting her.

With words which even to his ears, lacked conviction:

'Ma'am I don't concern you.'

The brown eyes gave her a direct look the response - unhinged, as she now stopped him in his tracks.

Aware of what route the Texan across from her was about to try and take:

'You're strong Nick plus you don't give up easy; and the head trauma from that gash on your head, explains a lot'

Her gaze sliding to the visible mark on his left wrist at that moment; before her blue eyes lifted her thoughts linking together and merging, her tone softer than before:

'For its why, you don't remember Nick.'

As she now carefully paved her words; interlinking what she did know, for it was tied to Ewan Carnahan:

'And it was the frontal lobe where the most physiological damage was done.'

The delicate features turned sombre, the blue eyes soft her steady gaze staying on him with him hanging by a moment - on her next words. With there gaze meeting in a silent gesture. As Catherine Grissom now hurtled one last comment at him.

The blue ocean eyes reflecting of his:

'It was a bad memory which brought you back here to Dallas though Nick; and you do remember something.'

The brown eyes dimmed seeing new pain, as she merged fact:

'For it was from an incident which happened; in your childhood, a triggered memory.'

He flinched; as the blue ocean eyes stayed firm. With his gaze falling at that moment to the CSI card she had given him. He gazed at it for a long second before looking back up and that she had once more spoken the truth – as he nodded.

His gaze diverting off her at that moment, the colour draining from his features as anxiety crept back through him. With the red-head now skilfully, manoeuvring her point lightening the situation:

'You told me about it once Nick and I was born in Montana.'

He gave her a look, aware it was the first time she had given him anything else about herself; with the woman across from him not letting go of the cord, she had struck as she now pulled on it - fore-fitting him at the same time:

'It's ok partner and there is something you have the right to know Nick.'

His brown eyes turned serious; there gaze linking with, the red-head breaching her point before he could speak:

'And it involves how you got that scar on your left temple'

The handsome set features slowly tensed, her words dying away in that moment, the brown soft eyes; revealing there depths - as her gaze fell to the official document in front of her.

The official document in his name; her thought's pivoting at that:

With the words coming slowly at first her tone unfamiliar, before cascading…

As he listened - taking in her every word.

With the blue ocean eyes distant - away in another time and place the red-head no longer, seeming to see him. As the red-head's professional manner now gave way completely; and what shone in those, ocean blue eyes.

How much it was costing her to tell him this - as the slender hand once more linked with his. His hand not moving for a second before again resisting, as he with drew his hand from hers.

His look hardening also as, the red-head's blue ocean eyes locked with his at that moment.

Tears shone in them as she reached out in a different way:

'It was you're apartment Nick'

His brown eyes stayed on her. Looking for a hint that it might be otherwise as he swallowed; aware that it was not going to be, as his gaze drifted for a moment to the brunette waitress who had served them – with the brunette lifting the food he had left.

The red-head's gaze in the same place; as they turned back in the same moment, feeling himself tense up. His gaze for a moment more, drifting at that as he looked around him taking in the décor; and the atmosphere of this small cafe.

As he now slowly lifted the fountain pen from, it's place. This time keeping it in his hand as he sent her a look, picking his words carefully and voicing the only thing he could:

'Go on?'

The tone was matter of fact. Tension cutting the air between them in that moment as the brown eyes burned deep, into hers. As she now picked off seeing the raw emotion heighten on those handsome set features.

With the words coming - unabated this time.

As a look of shock crossed into the handsome features and settled in the brown warm eyes before - halting there. The brown soft eyes meeting her own at that; as she now forced her-self to continue…

….The blue eyes interlinking with his at that moment, with the sounds of the café becoming distant once again. As he concentrated on what she was trying her best to tell him, his gaze falling slowly at that to the information in front of him.

Filtering it in the same way as he was her words; as he butted in again somehow knowing where she was heading:

'You found who, was responsible?'

The brown eyes glinted into hers; and that he was waiting on her answering….

As her thoughts for a moment turned inwards, to what had encompassed this investigation from the start law and justice and that it was, something she could see at this moment in a different way.

Even though he did not know himself - for it was there in those warm brown eyes and handsome set features; for it was part of him, and always had been and that it was something - he was unaware off now….

…..With law and justice, forever running deep in the Stokes blood and even with what had been revealed to them now. What Gil had shed light upon; the dual social security numbers, and what she herself had, dug up…..

Her trail taking her to Ewan Scott Carnahan, a man now held under jurisdiction by the Montana authorities and would remain so, with what little she had gained from him; only leaving her with more questions….

Plus what was combined with that, something which had foreshadowed them; that private and confidential data both medical and personal had been kept off the system and that even at this moment, she did not hold all the pieces to this puzzle…

Her thoughts interceding - at that.

To where they had delved long ago to Tom Stokes; too the primaries of Nick's live and his family, too what had happened in his childhood and one Matthew Garrett, a man know dead and who had died behind bars….

As she came to the present at that moment looking deep, into the brown eyes as she answered him fully:

'You went missing shortly after your father's death Nick; we thought there was a connection, it ended up being that there was.'

She hesitated, balancing her next words:

'Matthew Garrett was a friend of the family and your father.'

As she now curtailed her words:

'He played a part Nick in what happened to you and we thought he worked alone.'

The blue ocean eyes were infused; and that she was holding something else back. Not giving him the whole picture; protecting him in someway also, as he now responded looking at the silver ring on his finger at that moment.

Summoning the words:

'Why, me Catherine?'

The tone hit her heart, the brown eyes searching her and that his response was nothing less than what she could have expected and what she her self knew. That he had been meant to suffer - as she at that moment.

Reached out taking the cold gentle strong hand, once more into hers; for a moment not saying anything as she looked at the hand linked in her own. With his hand staying in place, as she looked up taking in the handsome features her gaze staying where it was.

As her thoughts glided back, and that it was human nature that had strung this investigation; with it being the work of someone within the law who had done this to him, as she found her voice:

'You are you're fathers son Nick'

The hand in his added slight pressure and that there was something else in that statement - as the warmth of her touch flooded through him, the red-head continuing:

'Matthew Garrett had motive and reason enough to harm you for that.'

Her blue ocean eyes closed for a second.

The memory returning - as she opened her eyes looking into the brown still eyes as she gave him something more:

'The little evidence we had at the time pointed to him and he did not deny it; for he took responsibility Nick.'

Catherine Grissom sent him a glance, there gaze linking as he let the fountain pen in his other hand fall. His voice barely audible; as he threw in something she had said:

'There was someone else though?'

It was a question within a question; and that the look of fear which had been there earlier, was back in the brown soft eyes as she nodded in answer no longer trusting her own voice…

The hand gently - releasing from his at that moment.

With the move being irregular as he sent her a look; and the growing feeling of unease within him, that red-head was not going to give him too much else, on what she had just stated…….

His gaze falling for a moment before lifting at that; and that he could not let it go as his tone rebounded, going on his own inkling at that moment:

'You still don't know who it is, do you?'

The brown eyes changing there intensity – the question direct as her gaze took in the nervousness of his demeanour and that this investigation in his name….

What had brought her here to Dallas was; once more wide open - and that Ewan Carnahan an individual who she had spoken too closely and who like Matthew Garrett before him - was a man of high standing and trust. Plus what clouded her now, for that same reason….

….For it was making her question, her better judgement that Ewan Carnahan a man who took his profession seriously; had loitered up to quickly….with the information he had provided them with, the key part he had played - and of what he knew about the Texan in front of her coming too freely.

With him having no major connection to - Matthew Garrett either….

As she looked deep into the brown still eyes - off the man across from her.

Her gaze resting there protectively before looking at the Social Security Card at that moment – something now part of there hard evidence, as she laid it carefully into the front of the file, her thoughts staying on it for a moment more and that how Nick had turned up in Montana in the first place was still a mystery….

With Ewan Carnahan's role; never the less being inter-grail….

….With the native born New Yorker giving them something more - something that the Dallas authorities were following up at this moment and was directly linked to Nick; and that there only link in the chain, had not only worked in the state of Montana and the city of New York….

He had worked here in Dallas for a time; before moving to one other major city, the city he had ended up moving from. With his late wife to Montana - with it being that in it's self which was causing her most concern….

That it was an avenue they had not investigated yet.

With the underlying fact something she only felt that Ewan Carnahan was keeping the lid on something - and that it was inconsequential too what they already had…..

For it was something revealed to them now; and linked to the past…..

That she was for the first time able to put the dagger in one man's hands - with the pieces, the evidence that she held at this moment pointing in only one direction and that it was a double edged sword…..

….With the vulnerable strong man whose brown warm eyes were focused on her at this moment; unable to tell her anything more - that he did not remember and that it was one thing she was thankful for…...

As her thoughts tapered; halting there on that thought and that that it was the individual across from her - at this moment. That was off the most concern, as she responded.

Thinking of her husband – the man she loved and the individual who like her had never given up hope, in that same moment:

'You still think like a CSI.'

The blue eyes glanced his way the red-head sending him a half smile, he ignored it and that she had not answered his question. As the independent woman across from him; shifted him a different look this time:

'I need you to come with me Nick.'

His head swung up; the blue ocean eyes looked directly into his. His gaze shifting back off her at that moment seeing the faces of customers around him; with the cafe starting to fill up and what he was aware off.

That they had been here for some time, longer than he had thought as he reflected on those last words of hers; the palm of his hand coming to rest on the document on his left hand side.

His brown eyes falling to the fountain pen his gaze staying there; as he voiced his thoughts:

'Are you always this direct ma'am?'

She smiled taking in the look across the handsome features, feeling fresh pain also in that moment as she looked deep into those brown innocent eyes, her thoughts turning inwards at that moment…… and that if they were to find any kind of closure now - it would be in a different way as she answered him.

Playing along:

'Always Nick'

The blue ocean eyes locked on his; there gaze remaining level and that the ball was back in his court, with the red-head not hesitating. As she carefully without question; lifted the two documents in front of him, putting them back in the official file in front of her.

As he looked at what was left in front of him; the note paper with his signature along with the older signature. The red-head lifting the CSI three card also, at that moment. His hand touching the note paper as he lifted the sheets handing them across to her:

'I guess you'll be, needing this.'

It was a statement; his features turning serious as the red-head took the note paper, without saying anything. There gaze meeting at that moment.

The ice blue ocean eyes looking through him and that it was; his choice - that she was not forcing him into it. As his brown eyes stayed where they were; the feeling innate within him now, that she was only trying to help him.

As he touched the scar on his temple; his brown eyes closing for a second before drawing open. The blue ocean eyes giving him a glance and that there was a look of concern and pain there - as his brown eyes fell to the one thing left sitting between.

The fountain pen which she had given him - and that she had left him hanging…..

As he, slowly reached out.

The smaller hand reaching out at that same moment, as his brown eyes lifted.

Meeting the blue ocean one's and that she had won him over.

His gaze falling to the hand gently linked within his.

With nothing being said; only what passed between them in that moment and that she had his trust. As the hand gently released from his - the warm touch gone from him as he slowly at that moment lifted the fountain pen.

Clipping it carefully, into the top left hand pocket of his green checked shirt and that it lay at his heart, feeling the cool of it coming through the thin shirt onto him. As he now lifted his baseball hat - putting it on.

There gaze locking and that it needed no words.

With the red-head rising at that - gathering her things his gaze falling to her bag at that moment; as he snatched another look at the photo there and that the blue eyes were back on him.

His features reddening slightly as he politely dropped his gaze the red-head picking up on it though as she sent him a smile, not commenting though. As she now followed her own agenda - and that she was waiting on him.

With his brown eyes glancing around him for a moment before he reached for the rucksack, his movements slow as he rose, adjusting him-self aware off other people's eyes on him; as the red-head came up beside him, the blue eyes sending him a friendly, glance as they fell into step.

His gaze falling to the floor till they reached the door - with Catherine Grissom, letting him go first as they stepped out into the mid-day Dallas sun. The rays hitting him as he stood taking a breath in the clear air, feeling the red-head touch his arm.

As he looked around him; aware of her touch as his brown eyes swept first to the residential housing, then to the mall, nothing had changed. His gaze going beyond that though; to the disused church and that something had changed.

He could see children playing there; and that the red-heads gaze was in the same place. As his brown soft eyes moved the blue eyes for a moment coming to meet his, before the red-head made a move.

Her arm linking through his; protectively - as he let her do so, there gaze meeting; with the red head speaking, for the first time since they had left the cafe:

'You have family here in Dallas Nick.'

The blue eyes cooled the red-head not adding anything more; as he sent her a look, his gaze falling as he closed his brown warm eyes for a second, before slowly opening them - the fragments of memories not moving as he took a breath, feeling his heart pounding.

As he read between the lines of her words:

'It's not the only reason why you want me to come with you though.'

His brown soft eyes stayed on her; silence filling the void between them and that he was withdrawing for her. As the red-head gripped his arm tighter, as a mother would a child.

The blue ocean eyes cascading at that moment:

'I think we'll need to get you cleaned up a little first Nicky before we do anything'

As the red-heads tone now turned coy:

'And there is a lot we need to sort out in one way or other; and your signature was just for starters.'

It was a statement off two halves his gaze dropping to the jeans and checked shirt and that she was giving him a wry smile. As he gave her a blank look his hand touching the stubble of his jaw line.

Looking again at the red-head as his thoughts turned inward for a moment; and that she was the type that he ought to remember - even though he in no way could….

As his brown eyes lifted there gaze meeting; as Catherine Grissom sent him a grin. The red-head taking a step forward, as he slowly fell into step beside her. His gaze shifting to look at her occasionally, as the red-head pace increased.

Before they came to a sharp halt and that they had not walked far.

His brown warm eyes lifting and that he recognised what he was looking at - it was the familiar landmark that he had passed on his way to the café, as his brown eyes fell to the two flags which stood adjacent, his gaze studying them closer this time.

With them bellowing in the light breeze which swept over them, as he looked at the official building that they were in front off, his brown intense eyes taking in the ensigncy's on the entrance – and what he did not need told that law and justice was this building purpose.

As he turned to face her, his tone questioning:

'Catherine?'

The sharp edge was gone from the tone; the sound of her name coming gently to her ears as her blue eyes closed for a second before opening them; looking at the strong vulnerable man who stood close beside her.

Her thoughts entwining at that moment; answering the question which she knew was paramount to him at this moment:

'When you left A& M College you worked here, it's where you got you're foot in the door Nick and it's where we're going now so as I can keep an eye on you.'

He swallowed and that she had left no room for argument.

His hand touching the silver ring on his right hand at that moment thinking about all that had been said between them; as his brown eyes fell to the United States flag, the stars and stripes on it knowing there meaning as - his gaze stayed focused on that flag for a long moment.

Before slowly moving to the flag of this state; his brown eyes resting on the lone star, before his gaze shifted back to Catherine Grissom. The fine features softening beside him and that it had been as though she had been reading his every thought.

As his thoughts penetrated seeing the look in the blue eyes of the independent woman beside him and that he was under this woman's protection as his brown eyes focused on her and that it was not only that.

That she had left a lot unsaid in more ways than one - and that for whatever else was to come, whatever he had let himself in for…..

It was the red-head beside him who was pulling the shots - his gaze at that once more taking in her rare beauty; and that she meant him no harm as he pulled the sleeve down to once more cover the mark on his left wrist.

As the red-head now stepped forward - not giving him any further chance to back out or change his mind, as she gently touched his shoulder.

Tracing the length of his arm before linking her arm back through his at that moment and that she was trying to keep him calm; as he took a breath, feeling the last of the heat from the bright Dallas sun, as they walked slowly into the darkened building…..

TO BE CONTINUED

P.S The Watch, Gil & everyone else is in the next two chapters & the cliff hanger plus was this any good?

Jennifer Jean Kirkland


	7. Lost Sons

Hanging by a Moment

- Lost Son's

Chapter Seven

Author: Jen

Author's note: Ok I have more reason that most not to continue with this story even though I'm a hairs breath away from my own cliff hanger which is meant to be at end of next chapter.

Anyway I cannot help what ever is coming with GRAVE DANGER & that I was trying to write something believable & accurate (something now completely out the window)

However out with getting his parents names wrong etc – I cannot give up on this one, I love writing & that I wish I could take it up professionally!!!

Plus I think even under circumstances this story pen ultimately comes down to G/C & N/S & where Nick fits as part of the team – take the heart & if they take that away I stop watching completely!!!!

So I am offering you an alternative & that finely after months I get to unleash the heart & soul of this story, even if I'm already to late some things have just got to be said even if it's only on paper.

Ok enough from me enjoy the read & I leave it up to you lot if you want more - for the foundations of my story have just been taken by the real mccoy & the resemblances in places to what is here, is unbelievable & I'm not joking – only I did not bury him alive to get the results!!!!

Way to big note but there is something in here for everyone so please read & by the way the bit at the end really has something!

Jen

* * *

It was a recognizable place where she stood at this moment; in this two storey house on the east side of Dallas. With where she stood, not only being the main sitting room, it was more importantly the family room - as Catherine Grissom's gaze drifted to look at the traditional furniture, the air looms, and the grandfather clock, which ticked quietly away in the corner.

Her gaze resting on the grandfather clock for a moment more before shifting, as her ice blue eyes now took in the shear scale of the room; and that it was something easily hidden. By its cosy old fashioned furniture and Texan veneer.

As her gaze once more drifted her thoughts turning back at that moment- to the times to which she had been here before, the knowledge it had indirectly given her then, on the foot notes of an individual's live, there bringing up and there family with her thoughts dwelling on that.

Before shifting direction too the last time she had been here and that it had more crucially been with Gil; and that the circumstances could not be more different - too the reason why she was here now….

…..Her ocean blue eyes falling at that, to the person furthest away from her at this moment – whose warm brown eyes were for now, no longer on her and that he was looking instead, at the many photos on display. On top of the old carved wooden display cabinet.

With him taking it in gradually; her own gaze watching his movements and that he was oblivious at this moment, to anyone else. As her blue ocean eyes rested on him, with her thoughts inter connecting at that.

Thinking of the strong vibrant woman, who she had met here years before and a person know dead, as her gaze rested back onto him at that moment….

With Grace Stokes thinking the worst, something that they had all thought and that her youngest son Nicholas Stokes, a son she had thought dead – lived as the brown soft eyes lifted at that moment away from the photos.

His gaze temporarily focused solely on her, as if in answer. As her gaze took in the paleness of the handsome set features and the short limp brown hair which was unable too cover, the visible deep scar on the left temple; and the look which shone, in those brown still eyes.

Her thoughts re-canvassing at that - with these last few hours where he had been under her care, bringing only more confusion for him; and that it was combined with the protocol and ordeal that he had also been put through in the process.

With it being mandatory for any missing person who did turn up - and that the toll it had already taken on him……

Was something quadrupled now, in this two storey house where he had grown up as her blue ocean eyes rested once more, on the forlorn figure her thoughts, re-adjusting.

Taking in as she did so, the loose non-descript clothing; and that his image at this moment, still portrayed a dishevelled look.

With her gaze shifting at that to what she could also see on him. Something tucked into the top left pocket of the dark shirt he now wore - the fountain pen she had given him.

As her own features turned grave, with what she had known beforehand only being added too detrimentally…..

Her gaze taking in once more at that the scar on the left temple, which ran deep into the hairline and that the internal damage from that wound, something which had never healed - and what had been confirmed to her now.

Within these last hours:

That it was unlikely ever to. With the fragmentary memories, something which influenced his every move and action being permanent; and that the physiological trauma along with it - had left the defining mark.

As her thoughts cut off at that; focusing instead on her core reason for being here as she looked his way. Nick's brown eyes finding hers. With her gaze seeing the glazed anguished look in the brown still eyes; as his gaze at that moment left hers...

With the fragile ground that she had made with him; the trust that lay now at this moment in those brown warm pools being something - that she could not loose as her thoughts kindled her gaze drawing in at that moment, all that was around her.

Taking the hushed disjointed silence that subsided in this room.

As her ice blue eyes came to a stop; her gaze coming to rest on one certain individual, who stood now not far from her, as her gaze looked past him - to the person that she had been keeping a more than, close eye on.

Her gaze staying protectively there for a moment more; with Nick intangibly unaware of what was going on underfoot - as her blue eyes focused on him for a moment more, before sliding back to Ryan Stokes; taking in his profile and the close resemblance he held with his younger brother.

Something embodied at this moment, with this being the first she had ever seen them together; and that the marked differences between them was now, also more than evident as she looked into the dark brown eyes of Ryan Stokes.

As the dark brown eyes focused now on her and that Tom Stokes oldest son had faired well in these years. With him keeping his father's role as chief justice of the Texas supreme courts; and though he had differed in many ways. From his father Ryan Stokes - had never the less managed to make his mark on the law and justice system here in Texas….

Her blue cool eyes taking in at that, the set features; the brown hair which was just beginning to grey and that he was less handsome than the individual, who stood at this moment more or less beside him.

With the features of the younger of the two being pale and withdrawn in comparison and that there was lifelessness, in his movements something which brought an ache to her own heart; as she took in the look, she was now receiving from those dark brown eyes of Ryan Stokes.

For it was something which clashed directly with there reason for being here now, as her thoughts intensified. Staying set on that line with there evidence, the pieces they know held and what the Dallas authorities had followed up…..

Coming to only one answer and that she was now for the first time since meeting Ryan Stokes disputing conviction -

Of an individual who years before she would have had no reason to doubt. That he was guilty and though they had held no evidence then; he had been the one that they could not help but point the finger of suspicion at…..

As her gaze took in the two brothers with Ryan Stokes not being more different from the defenceless man who stood beside him. Plus what was integrally inter-grated with that. For it was part of the Stokes family.

The branch and line which Nick was rudimentarily part off - and the family to which Ryan Stokes too this day was still head off, with the Stokes family never in these years; too have recovered from its loss.

As her gaze swept between them - and that they were of the same blood….

Her thoughts migrating at that moment; too the women, her colleague, the individual who all this would mean most to and her child and that along with all her other reason's for bringing him here; something in itself colloquial….

For it was where his live had begun and what was now linked with it.

Something worth the risk of bringing him here, that it might in someway jog that memory of his, as her blue eyes levelled back from Nick too Ryan Stokes. The dark brown eyes glinting into hers at that moment as if knowing her thoughts and that the standoff which had remained until now was - inconsequential….

With Ryan Stokes now being right where she wanted him.

As her gaze for a moment went to the vulnerable lean man beside him with Nick for now still remaining unaware before her gaze, carefully moved back too where it had been too where she could read Ryan Stokes every action and emotion.

With his behaviour and demeanour being something that she had been monitoring meticulously from the first moment they had arrived here and though she had now every reason to question his previous alibi.

To where he had been on the day almost six years earlier when Nick - the individual and brother who stood beside him now, had went missing…. with it also both directly and indirectly…..

Being her fore-frontal reason for bringing, Nick here now - as her thoughts at that moment combined, with there fresh evidence along with what the Dallas authorities had followed up and Ewan Carnahan's word.

Something itself up for debate and by not only her, being what was now the all important critical factors in this investigation - and that she was devoid of making any wrong moves at this moment; as her cool blue eyes traced this ancestral room, her thoughts collaborating into a different form…..

Her blue ocean eyes falling back onto Ryan Stokes at that before shifting, as her gaze fell at that to the woman on her right hand side. For she had been the individual who they had informed first – that her younger brother was alive as there gaze met.

The brown hazel eyes holding on hers for a moment more the emotion surfacing and that Neve was the sibling closest in age to Nick and that like her older brother, and the rest of Nick's sisters she was married - and had a family of her own.

With those children now all more or less grown up or being off Lindsey's age; and that there uncle who stood here now would be nothing more than, a vague memory to them as her thoughts drifted again.

Thinking once more of Sara and her child with that little boy, who was off Nick's own flesh and blood; being the ever lasting connection and bridge too this family and what was re-forged with it. As her gaze slid at that moment to the sensitive man who stood some distance from her…..

Her gaze resting there tentatively her thoughts personifying in a different way - and what was indirectly linked too it; that Sara was still in the dark to all that was happening now and that she was not the only one.

With this vulnerable man, being unaware also that he was a father - as her blue eyes slowly at that moment departed from Nick.

Returning instead too Neve and the look which shone unyielding in her brown soft eyes for it was what she and the man who stood closest to her at this moment were thinking - and that it had only in these moments grown in strength….

With her gaze, shifting momentarily back to Nick at that thought….

The bowed head lifting at that moment; the brown depthless eyes meeting hers - and that there was an unspoken plea in them.

As there gaze stayed locked.

Before the brown eyes slowly and gently dropped there gaze, the moment gone with something else catching his attention. As her gaze maintained focus solely on him and the photo which Nick's brown warm eyes; were now nervously looking at, and that she could see clearly from here.

For it was the photo which had always sat there; and that it was the photo of a father - with his two sons…..

As her ocean blue eyes shifted at that moment, to the man beside her; a Texan also and a cop, with Max Calder's green-blue eyes glinting off hers and that his thoughts were running the same course as hers.

With her blue eyes drifting back to Nick and then to Ryan Stokes; with what they held against him - what the Dallas authorities had gathered being circumstantial evidence something which in itself. That went hand in hand, with this investigation.

Plus what her underlying thoughts were something indirectly linked by what she knew Sara had felt those years before; and that it was something her colleague had tried in her own way to maintain. That she had kept in contact with this family; and that it had not only been for the sake of her child….

…..For it was something that she herself was only, now beginning to warm too; that under Ryan Stokes cool exterior was an individual who did care and though what she now had stacked against him, was catalytic….

Ryan Stokes behaviour and emotions were telling her otherwise and that like his sister. She had seen the look in the set features; when they had arrived here and what it was combined with. Something which neither of Nick's, siblings were able to hide.

For it was the look of - insurmountable pain. Which shone in both there eyes and that, that pain, was something which had only in the time they had been here, increased rapidly. For the brother who failed to recognise them and who, held next to no memories of them….

With his condition and nervous state adding to that; as her blue eyes swept between brother and sister, her gaze falling back to Nick at that moment; as his brown eyes slide gently from the one photo, which had briefly held his attention.

As she now watched him closely, shutting out the others who stood at this moment in this room - seeing his gaze meander in that moment.

The head bowing, the features revealing pain before - the brown desolate eyes slowly lifting to meet hers, his gaze resting for a long moment on her and the fact he did not remember them.

Was something that everyone in this room; was having a hard time adjusting too…..

Her thoughts returning at that - to Ryan Stokes as her gaze slid to him and that, the pain in his dark brown eyes showed the most, as her gaze stayed put watching the elder brother who was trying in any way that he could; to aid his younger sibling.

With that in its self telling her something - and that it was the clear emotion in those set features something which Ryan had been unable to control, being the physical proof that told her all she needed to know…

As her gaze fell back onto Max Calder the green-blue eyes meeting hers; with him being the individual who she had been working closely with, ever since she had arrived here in Dallas and what they both felt now. That Ryan Stokes behaviour did not fit with the evidence they now had at hand.

With her thoughts re-focusing too what lay at the back of her mind; with Ryan Stokes being too easy a suspect - and that the question Nick had all too innocently asked her earlier. For it was something she had withheld from him, and that it was something at this moment that he was still unaware off…..

That it was his brother's name which had come to the fore of this investigation and that though she could now put the dagger in Ryan Stokes hand. The physical evidence said otherwise.

With Ryan Stokes giving - innocence in his every action.

Her thoughts inter-grating at that with him being the one year's before to take Matthew Garrett down, the man linked to Tom Stokes and who was now dead; and that Ryan Stokes had made the painful link to the case in his younger brothers name years earlier.

Plus what tipped the balance for it was something which had not changed. That there was still, much that she disliked about him and that she in no way trusted him; and that it nevertheless did not take away from the fact.

For it was what she could see without hesitation, at this moment.

How he felt for his younger brother. As her thoughts collided taking in as she did so Ryan Stokes demeanour and that if her inkling at this moment – was right that he had played no part….

Then it made there circumstantial evidence - what Ewan Scott Carnahan had fed them illegitimate….as her blue ocean eyes swept at that onto the sensitive man, who stood beside his elder brother at that moment and that it was Nick, that was her deepest concern.

As Max Calder's hushed tone picked that moment to cross her thoughts:

'You want the authorities to hang fire Catherine?'

The Texan tone was gently polite and that it had been nothing more than a whisper between them, as she gave him a serious look. With this man, being there only other contact left in Dallas out with Nick's close-nit family; and that he was someone who she trusted coherently and who also, like her had known Nick on a work bases.

With it being this Texan who had also helped - track him down as she now shifted him a glance. Max Calder picking up on it, as she gave a simple nod in answer too his question her gaze staying on him in that moment; as she seen the beach boy good looks pale beside her.

Max Calder's features turning rigid also, as his green-blue eyes shifted off her too look at Ryan Stokes before the slowly coming back onto hers and that his thoughts lay with her own. That what they were accusing him off - the evidence against him and that no matter what they had thought of him in the past.

That Ryan Stokes was - by all accounts innocent.

Plus what was tied too it. That neither of them were, willing to put him; out the picture completely. With questioning him being an option that they did not have that his high position within the supreme courts; with-held them from doing so and what was clear at this moment.

That the answer to this puzzle no longer lay here in Dallas…..

With there investigation having come as far as it could - in this cowboy state and that the links they had uncovered to Nick's family and Matthew Garrett were only part of this puzzle….

As her thoughts shifted at that moment - her gaze drawn to the lean figure whose brown eyes were lost to her and that it was what had ran, deep for generations in the Stokes blood, for it was part of Nick also - law and justice and that the anger and frustration that Ryan Stokes had once directed at them….

On a day not so unlike this one - was something now gone.

Replaced instead by something which was desolately familiar to her; and that it was reflected at this moment painfully in Ryan Stokes dark brown eyes, with taking any further actions in this two storey house where Nick had grown up being the wrong thing to do - and that this was solely her decision.

That it was her call and no one else's to make….

Her thoughts changing, as she looked at Ryan Stokes - with the dark brown eyes focused on Nick and that what she had dug up. The data with held, the social security card and Ewan Scott Carnahan. With it being him.

That was the only one who could give them anything more…..

For he was the explicit link in the chain - and that even under the current circumstance's it would be a matter of days yet, before he would be released from the Montana authorities to come under there full fledged scrutiny.

As her thoughts diminished and that the Dallas authorities, were on the opposite side of that same spectrum. With there evidence illegitimate though it may be, was enough to do a public figure like Ryan Stokes permanent damage.

Her blue eyes falling onto Ryan's at that moment, with the dark brown eyes giving her a set look, for it was something which pulled at her, along with the questions that he and his sister had carefully asked….

…..For they were questions that they themselves were still trying to find the answers too and that; the evidence and this missing person before her now, as her gaze slowly took in the sensitive man, who stood a little distance from her now.

Were being kept away from the media and public eye - and that it was something that she was hoping to keep, it that way ….

As Max Calder's urgent tone edged across to her with, his words deriving her thoughts:

'He won't agree to what you want ma'am.'

There gaze locked and that the Texan beside her had in one simple statement spoke truth, with her only other option - to bring Nick with her to Las Vegas, being something at this moment that she was unable to do.

With which ever way she turned putting him at a greater risk….

As her thoughts turned inwards at that moment thinking Gil; and that if the man she loved were here now. His thoughts would be the same. That it was the individual she was here for that mattered most and that there was an avenue and thread, one linked to Ewan Carnahan which was still to be followed up that held the most sway…..

Her thoughts personifying at that thought as her blue eyes rested on Nick; and that it was those details, something to be spun into this web and investigation; which were the factors that made taking him with her - the only feasible option.

With Ryan Stokes being the hurdle that she had to cross first; and that though he held the integral right. That he was related by blood. It was not in his supremacy to stop her, that it was the Dallas authorities.

Plus the one thing that caught her here.

That who ever had done this to Nick, had worked within the law - and that they were still out there….

As her gaze swept to him taking in the slowness of his movements; and that he could not remember as her gaze slowly drifted to Ryan Stokes. The set features meeting hers and what she could conclude at this moment, for it was something based on human nature.

That he was not the suspect she was looking for – her thoughts coming to a halt at that as she now gave the cop beside her a glance, answering him at the same time:

'He won't need to Max. Plus it's not him who we need to persuade.'

Her gaze shifting from Ryan Stokes to Nick as her gaze rested there; with the fragile trust she held with him, being what was now crucially at stake and that it was in Las Vegas, where he had once settled - and where there one avenue they had, not yet investigated lay.

As her thoughts at that moment transferred; and of what she now had to ask of Ryan Stokes and the rest of his family here in Dallas.

For it was something in itself which was no small request and that it would only re-open a fresh old wound between them…..

One which had never in the passage of time healed and that by taking Nick with her now away from Dallas - the place he had returned to of his own free will. She would be risking again coming under Ryan Stokes wrath, as her blue eyes fell onto his.

The dark brown eyes looking through hers at that moment; and that more importantly her only way that she had left to protect the individual and person under her care - was to take the vulnerable man who stood at this moment beside his brother with her, as she glanced directly Ryan Stokes way….

Her thoughts colonising at that as his gaze met hers - and that for brothers they shared little in common. As she at that moment remembered something of old, for it was something which did tie them; how they had both felt long ago towards Matthew Garrett and that they were both without doubt, determinately stubborn….

As her gaze for a second time swung between them taking in the strong resemblance once more - and that if she was to make her move; then the time was now. As she seen there sister, come forward stepping between the two brothers.

The brunette's gaze coming to meet hers at that moment; and that Neve the woman across from her was aware of the path she was about to take - and that she was not going to stand in her way.

With it being his welfare that they were putting first above all else.

As she watched the sibling who was closest in age to him - touch his lean shoulder. His brown eyes lifting at that away from his brother, to look at his sister with there gaze staying on one another.

His brown warm eyes at that moment shifting to meet hers as she sent him a look; the brown eyes moving back to his sister and that she had a good idea to what the brunette had in mind - with Neve coming to walk beside him.

Her gaze staying in his place, as Nick's gaze swept to her at that moment, there gaze locking, seeing the look of trust which shone there, in those brown eyes and that he was going to make no further move without her say so….

As she heard his sister, speak gently to him.

The brown eyes departing from hers - and what was giving them all added concern the leanness, of his already thin frame and that he had turned down more or less any food offered to him in these hours.

With all that he had eaten being what he had at the quant café where she had found him and that his sister here now was like them. Having little success on that front with him again turning down the offer of food - as her ocean blue eyes fell at that on to the brunette with, Neve having a different plan.

As his sister's brown soft eyes looked her way for confirmation - for the two of them, to temporarily leave this room, to take him to the veranda and that like her…..

She knew the fresh air would do him good, as she seen the fresh hint of pain which shone in those brown intense eyes of his and what she knew for it was obvious to the naked eye; that his interest in this place was gone - that it offered him no answers and that the jumble of memories that this place held for him….

Was having a diverse effect.

The brown soft eyes locking once more on hers at that – as her gaze went to Ryan Stokes before moving back to Nick. As she once more sent him a look the brown eyes picking up on it as, he relaxed a little under her glare.

His gaze staying on her though - as she now smiled his way; the handsome set features turning serious.

There gaze staying locked in that moment…..

As she felt at that - the unfamiliar and hesitant touch upon her right shoulder with that touch startling her. Forcing her thoughts elsewhere; and breaking at the same time the silent message which had been in those warm brown eyes.

With Nick's gaze diverting off her, as her blue eyes rose to the person who had lightly touched upon her right shoulder, finding her-self face to face with Ryan Stokes. The look in the dark brown eyes telling her what his thoughts were, as her gaze moved back to forlorn figure, who stood a little distance from her.

Seeing the brown warm eyes unsure - as there gaze for a second time in a matter of moments locked…..

His brown eyes resting - on the red-head.

Feeling the gentle grip of his arm slacken slightly at that moment with the brunette; the woman who was his sister, making no further move as his gaze drifted between Ryan Stokes and Catherine Grissom.

With his brown eyes at that same moment ignoring the gaze of the cop - Max Calder whose blue-green eyes were concern fully on him; and that he was by all accounts someone, of insignificance to him.

As his gaze instead focused only on the red-head, trying to figure out at that moment what was going on in front of him. As his brown eyes swung; at that onto his brother….

The dark eyes meeting his before cutting away again - with Ryan Stokes gaze unable to stay on him; and that it was something which was only making him more anxious, as his gaze diverted at that moment.

Finding that of the red-heads; the blue ocean eyes encompassing his and that the power play between his elder brother and this woman, was something which more than sparked the air in this room.

With the tension of it, cutting deep into him - and what he felt at this moment for it was something that, they were unable to protect from him that he was the root cause of it, as his hand automatically came up at that moment, to touch the scar on his left temple.

His features tensing up - his hand falling as his gaze slide to his sister; seeing the look in her hazel brown eyes as there gaze came to meet and though like his older brother, he held barely any memory of her.

For it was even at this moment - in this place where he had grown up – the one thing which had not altered, with the fragmental memories spiralling, as his brown warm eyes moved to where they had been earlier.

To the archaic photos on top of the carved display cabinet his brown still eyes resting there for a long moment as his heart beat grew faster; and that he was innately somehow, aware of both his sibling's thoughts….

As Neve at that moment, tightened the grip of his arm.

His brown eye's shifting at that to Catherine Grissom the red head giving him a glance that he was in safe hands, as he relaxed. His gaze shifting once more back to his brother, taking in the look there and that whatever the red-head and his elder brother had to discuss – it was at this moment not for his ears…..

With them both wanting him out the room; and what his instincts were now telling him, that he was being pulled in both directions at once and that it was his interests, that they both had at heart and what he knew himself.

His gaze shifting to Max Calder at that moment making a link as he did; that it was the red-head who was going, to have the final major say in what they both wanted to discuss…..

As he looked his brother's way there gaze lingering for a moment on one another; with the dark brown eyes glinting into his, at that moment the look unbalancing him, as his brown warm eyes diverted.

His eyes closing at that moment, fighting the surge which went through him; as he took a breath concentrating on what was strung reticently to his malignant memory - and that Ryan the man who was his brother, was not going to let the red-head get all her own way; as his gaze lifted to meet those dark brown eyes of his brother's.

For a moment there gaze staying set, with his brown eyes unsettled - by the look which was there at this moment in those dark brown eyes, as his gaze for a second time gave way. With a voice crossing his thought's at that moment; and that it was his sister's voice. ….

With the sibling closest in age to him easing the situation. Looking between them and then to Catherine Grissom as his, own gaze shifted onto the red-head at that moment.

The blue ocean eyes resting on him with the look in them, soothing him as his brown eyes steadied.

There gaze for a moment interlinking….

As Nick's brown warm eyes surfaced with pain; Ryan Stokes voice striking out directly to her in that moment, as her gaze shifted back to Nick, seeing the look in his eyes.

The look pulling at her heart; as his sister now slowly took him away out of ear shot, with the brown eyes staying on her for as long as possible in that moment - before his gaze fell completely, his thoughts and concentration now pinpointed elsewhere as they now departed from room.

As her gaze levelled back at that to the dark brown eyes of Nick's brother and the person who had spoken; with Ryan Stokes gaze fixed intangibly on her waiting for an answer, for a moment neither of them uttering a word.

With it being she and the cop beside her - who had this man to deal with and that he was not the type to give in easily. As her thoughts went back to Nick; and then temporally to the father he had never been close too Tom Stokes….

As Max Calder now carefully broke the ice his words filling the silent gap, between them her ocean blue eyes cooling; as she in that moment gave Ryan Stokes a set look her thoughts merging as one in that moment.

Seeing Max Calder's words take effect; as she now summoned her own voice and that she was not going to take no for an answer. That it was Nick - and that this man, his brother who stood before her now and who was related by blood:

Was an individual still under suspicion and that Ryan Stokes; was not going to stand in her way, with there being too much at stake. Her thoughts turning inwards for a moment thinking of Gil - and that if he were standing here now.

He would do the same and that there was not only his blood family here in Dallas.

The family which Nicholas Stokes had years earlier drifted away from - that there was a family of his own, now waiting for him in Las Vegas; and that Nick was not even yet aware off and that even though he could not remember…..

He was under her protection.

With this being her call to make – and that the risks involved were on her shoulders, that the gamble was hers to take; for the soul that she looked upon as a son, as Ryan Stokes voice nailed her in that moment ……

The touch was gone; the cool air rustic as his handsome features turned at that moment to face his sibling. His sister giving him a look, as his gaze fell and that she had noted his blank expression.

As his brown eyes slowly lifted to once more look around him, with the October Dallas sun having already set; the light of it playing of all that was around him and that the cool air, which was hitting him was helping to in some ways release, some of the tension within his body.

His gaze beginning to now slowly wander at that, as he leaned for a moment heavily on the veranda, the traditional decking supporting his weight; as the tension within him slowly gave way, finding him-self able to at last relax, a little in the unfamiliar surroundings, of a place that should have been more than familiar to him.

As his gaze for a second time diverted to his sister, her hazel brown eyes finding his, there gaze catching in that moment. With her being about to speak as he seen her, in the last moment change her mind. Her gaze instead doing the same as his; as he looked beyond the veranda taking what lay beyond it in, with his own eye.

The detail small but enough as his brown eyes traced the reclusive yet homely back yard his gaze drifting at that, beyond its everyday boundaries trying as he did to seize some further memory.

It was though something which was happening - as he felt the touch upon his right shoulder. His brown warm eyes lifting his sister, a woman who was a stranger to him and that she in one way or another understood something of, what he was feeling as her gaze focused on him.

With the look in her soft hazel brown eyes easing him slightly; and that she was now looking at the silver ring on his right hand as there gaze again met, as he sent her a serious look.

Her gaze moving elsewhere in that moment, as he seen her fine delicate features cloud his own gaze trying to pinpoint what she was looking at. With it being something that infringed this backyard that her gaze was resting on.

His brown eyes resting on the red oak tree that she was looking at trying to read anything he could into why it was of significance. As she sent him a smile his gaze finding hers the brown hazel eyes staying on him, with the smile fading a look of pain instead crossing her features.

As he looked away from her fighting his own emotions in that moment; and though this two storey house was unfamiliar to him, it had once been his home his thoughts grinding at that trying to remember any stray memory he could - and that no matter how painful it was for him here.

He did not want to leave - that it was where he had grown up and that any memories he had were linked to this place and what his gut was now telling him, that the red-head the person whose protection he was under, had other ideas….

His thoughts coming to a halt at that with his gaze falling to Neve, the brunette's features withdrawn and that she was no longer looking at the mark on his left wrist or the scar on his temple; she was instead giving his right wrist a direct glance.

There gaze lifting to meet at that; as her gaze shifted back to where it had been earlier as he fought the urge to say something, expecting the woman beside him to give him some clue to her thoughts…..

As the silence between them drifted in that moment; with her having no further chance to speak, as he seen at that moment the door that they had come out of onto the veranda slowly open; the red-head, along with the cop and his brother.

His brown eyes moving at that, the brunette turning to face there way; as he tried to read there expressions of what had just taken place, between the three - with Max Calder's features anxious, Catherine Grissom's the same as his gaze slid to his brother.

Whose gaze was fixed on him, the expression one that was unreadable; and that there was a hint of anger in those dark brown eyes, as Ryan shifted him a glance one that only increased his nervousness.

As his brown eyes buckled once more switching at that to the red-head and what the look in her ocean blue eyes were telling him, that she was leaving it up to him, on what happened next……

With his gaze moving slowly between his brother and sister at that; anxiety sweeping through him and that all eyes were now on him as he looked the cops way; tension fussing the rustic air.

As he now battled the emotions surfacing within him in that moment – with his brown eyes sweeping all that was around him, trying to find something that would stabilise his thoughts as he took a slow breath, his gaze anchoring on the red-head.

Whose blue eyes revealed there depths there gaze interlinking and that whatever she had been discussing with his brother, had been defused to a certain extent, as his features tensed his brown eyes shifting and what he could see residing in Ryan Stokes set features.

That he was in no way in agreement - with the red-head.

As his brown eyes flinched under his brother's gaze, his anxiety turning to panic in that moment as something registered within him; and that it was his opinion they were looking for and what he was aware off, that they were still protecting him from something…...

His gaze going downward in that moment feeling his heart beat; as he heard a soft voice and that it was that of the red-head as his brown eyes lifted to meet hers:

'Nicky'

The brown warm eyes shone with fear - and that she could see along with Max Calder, the underlying emotion that he was unable to hide from his siblings.

As his gaze darted of her looking away from; all of them, in that moment…..

His thoughts focusing as he did so; as his gaze fell back to Catherine Grissom, there gaze holding as he heard his brother speak. The tone firm but cool and that Ryan's set features were focused only on him.

As he voiced the question directly to him - awaiting his response; as he once more looked the red-heads way and that she was, wanting him to speak his mind something at this moment that he was unable to do….

With uncertainty overtaking him in that moment - as he swallowed looking through the windows back into the Dallas home that he had not so many moments before came out off. His gaze switching at that to his two siblings who were both looking his way.

His thoughts conflicting as his gaze found that of his older brother. The dark brown sending him a look, there gaze staying locked on one another, as his brown eyes shifted to his sister.

Her gaze warm and secure; and that she had added nothing more to Ryan's words. As his hand lifted at that moment; to the fountain pen in his pocket, his brown still eyes going to the red-head, as they shared a look.

As his gaze slowly went back to taking in his surroundings, blanking the others out his gaze resting on the red oak tree - his heart thumping in that moment; with nothing kicking in, as his gaze dropped touching his left temple.

With the inner turmoil within him heightening - and that the memories were strung unable to become anything more, as his gaze swung to his older brother for a moment holding there before falling back onto the red-head and that she had his trust.

Her gaze supporting him; and that she understood how he felt - and that he was at this moment, uncertain of which way to turn; as he looked Ryan's way before his brown warm eyes returned to Catherine Grissom, there gaze one in that moment…..

With the red-head's professional tone voicing the words that he was unable to speak….

* * *

Grissom waited impatiently trying hard not to think of times past but it was not helping, he had probably sent Catherine to a dead end but for some reason a hunch maybe or just because he genially thought a lot of Sara and that boy of hers and like the whole team even after all of this time and even though all the evidence at the time proved that Nicky Stokes was probably more dead than alive, some part of him would never accept that he was simply gone.

His eyes turned to the folder sitting on his desk, sighing deeply he opened the missing persons folder, the spare copy, Catherine had taken the original with her but they both said the same thing as he looked at the name written in bright red felt tip at the top – Nicky Stokes.

The photo of his once colleague was the first thing to great him, he glanced at it but quickly went to the written documents, the evidence, his finger tapped the desk nervously and without thinking brought the photo which had been at the front out of its pocket and laid it next to the written documents. This was all there was.

Nick had been one of the best Crime Scene Investigator that he had worked with and he had always been so dam serious about his work, it was ironic that the great Grissom could not get to the bottom of what had happened to the once happy, energetic young man and with that he swept the folder of his desk, its contents falling to the floor …

With what lay protected, at the back of the file - falling also….

As his hand reached out at the last moment; to catch the object, his movements too late as his gaze slid slowly to the floor; looking at the scattered documentation and too what had fell.

His gaze locking on it – and that it had landed beside the upturned photo of his once colleague……

For it had been the one possession which had been on the victim on that fatal day long ago; as he looked at the black watch and the significance it held to him. His blue eyes closing for a moment and that it was the one piece of evidence that he had not let go with Catherine…..

With him keeping it here specifically, not letting the red-head take it with her even though it was something which should have gone with her to Dallas; and that he knew his reason's too why he had kept it here in Las Vegas.

The fear that he might be wrong that his hunch, one based neither on science or theory might not be correct and that he had sent Catherine once more - to nothing but a dead end:

As his blue eyes fell to the photo his gaze surrendering in that moment as he felt a fresh stab of pain as his gaze rested there.

His thoughts giving way at that moment turning first to Sara, too the single mother she had become and what she was unable to hide from them. For it lay unspoken in her dark starlight eyes and had only grown with the years; the ache in her heart for the person who should have been here with her.

As his thoughts turned once more to that little boy - who had filled all there lives; from his first steps, to his first words…. for it was something he had seen the first moment he had laid eyes on him; and what was clear to him know for that same reason.

For it was something which grew with each passing day; that he was the exhilarant combination of both his parents…..

His thoughts coming to a halt his gaze resting again on the photo in front of him and that the boy who had been named after his father did have a look of Sara about him; and that he had her curiosity.

For it was something which had landed him in trouble often enough - and that he had confidence far and beyond his years, with it being something which he had inherited from both parents; and what he Gil Grissom could not help but see for it was something which brought only a new pain kind of pain….

That he was without doubt his father's flesh and blood - and that it was not only in his looks and character, that he had his father's head for heights; something which had landed him in more than one close shave and that he was unable to keep; his two feet on the ground.

With him having a soft spot for that little boy - one which few were reckoned with and that he knew his reasons why, that he was in someway trying to make up for something he had been unable too - and that it was, exact same reason why he spoiled that five year old; and that it was something which had got himself into trouble more than once, from both Sara and Catharine.

As his thoughts went into free fall the palm of his hand touching the empty desk in front of him; with the enthusiastic five, year old who inquired to know every antiquity his office held, had the personality and determination which belonged only to his father….

….With him at the age of five knowing everything ornithological possible - and that it was a trait which had come from only one place; as a smile came to his features and to what that little boy had taken to doing recently, something which warmed his heart……

That he would look up from where he was know; too find a five year old standing at the door, the innocent brown eyes watching his every move, with the boy taking his gaze as the signal to come forward; and to clamber onto the chair across from his desk.

With the strong set features giving him that smile at that moment, the little boy, giving him the look to continue - with whatever he was doing, as his own gaze took in, the serious look and the enthusiastic expression there also; and what would clutch his heart in those moments….

When those warm brown eyes were focused only on him, that it would be that little boy's father; that he would see across from him in those moments - and what had been sunk deep into him for that same reason.

That he see in him - all the things which had been lost to them, with that five year old having his father's heart, innocence and the huge chunk of humanity; which had belonged only to Nick……

As his thoughts came to a halt; with it going beyond simply those things, with that little boy sharing the gifts that had belonged only to his father, the gifts that had made his father among other things, the charismatic and popular CSI he had been.

That he had his father's soul - and that he was strong in the way Nick had been and that it was combined infallibly also; with his mother's spirit, something which had lead to one or two humorous escapades in its own right.

With that little boy having a little of his own as well; and what was there also. For it was something which shone deep, in those brown innocent eyes that were full of live - that serious but easy going nature of his - and that it was something which few individuals were blessed with……

A rarity which was vibrant - the emotional tide, that sensitive quality and that it was only now these years later. When his once colleague was now nothing more than a distant memory; that he had come to fully appreciate how that boys father had been in a league of his own and what went with it.

That it had been something that he himself had never neutered…

With him not once letting that CSI three spread his wings in the way he should have done - and that potential that he had seen in Nick the stubborn determination, his drive, compassion, the human qualities; his loyalty, integrity that serious edge were all the things that he himself had shunned.

Plus what went with it that they were the qualities which had made him all the more unique - with Nick having something else, something which belonged only to him; and that it was a quality no other had.

Nick having it by the bucket load – that he had looked beyond the theory and the science, that he had applied an open mind to all that he did; and that he had the human touch, in a way no other had and that it was combined articulately.

The roots of his live, what had shaped it; and what had resurfaced time and again in his work the instincts which had come from his cop background. With Nick being the type to go on a hunch - what he was doing now at this moment and that it was something once, unfamiliar to him Gil Grissom.

For it was something which had been cruelly twisted into him in its own way; that he had not once given that Texan, in all the time he had been under him a fighting chance and what had been compounded painfully these years later.

Too where it could have lead - and what gripped his heart now….

Seeing those qualities; which had shone in Nick interwoven, in his own son and the fact, what everything in black and white stated - that he could be nothing other than dead, as his blue eyes closed thinking once more of that little boy; and that he was like quick fire in his own right.

With him having his father's charisma and animation….

His blue eyes opening at that moment as his thoughts re-adjusted and what added to that pain the innocence and stubbornness and the fact that little boy had no one memory of his father - as his thoughts turned once more to the past….

Too where the evidence before him had leaded too….

The course of there investigation years taking them in only one direction - too the lone start state and too the threads of Nick's live, too his father and too one Matthew Garrett the man who they had held accountable for his missing colleague.

With Garrett giving them nothing more and that he had died behind bars - his satisfaction coming only in seeing Nick's family suffer more and what made it all the more painful, the part he had played in what had….

…..Impacted that Texan's; live like no other.

As his thoughts came back to the present; as his gaze slipped to the black watch and the cracked face and that in all this time – it had not once stopped and what he felt at this moment….

…Something unusual for him, that there was a message there.

The possibility one that lay beyond the science of his live and lay encircled with that Texan; that Nick might yet be alive and that it was his only hope – as his thought went once more to Sara in that moment:

Too the guilt she could not help but feel for the live she had brought into the world and the further pain wrought by Matthew Garrett's death. With that little boy who was part of all there lives being the lasting connection and link to Nick's family in Dallas.

With Sara in her own way looking beyond what he and Catherine had seen in Ryan Stokes that she had maintained the bridge to his family. With Nicky Stokes giving an added dimension to that and what lay unspoken between, all of them.

The one thing which they had all protected that little boy from, to what had happened to his father…..

As his blue steal gaze drifted to the photo.

His gaze unable to move off it; with law and justice something which had ran deep in the Stokes blood for generations:

For it had been the backbone of Nick's live - and ran deep in his son's blood also - and that it had brought them no closure, only that he was still missing, and that the web.

The system itself had brought them no answers, with him at every turn being a step behind with no body ever turning up. His own methods futile; and the cruel irony something what was linked somehow, to the victim that they had found only dissolution.

With Sara and his close-nit family in Dallas left only too suffer the pain of the knowledge given to them and that the puzzle which he held no more than half the pieces too – had been unable to be made whole.

Matthew Garrett adding to that, with Ryan Stokes only maintaining his standoff with them and that it was something which had remained. With the passage of time coolly unchanged and what was combined with it also - for it was something which had shaped there investigation from the start the human element….

With science, theory and modern technology playing no part the little evidence they held, unable to yield them anything more; as his thoughts personified - and that he Gil Grissom.

Had been unable to solve this puzzle, too what had happened to the individual, the Texan, he had looked upon as a son; and that there was only ever one person who could help him…..

His blue eyes closing - in that moment.

No longer able to look at the photo in front of him and that little boy who was of Nick's own flesh and blood; was a constant reminder to a time when, these labs had been a lighter happier place…..

With the strangle hold which Conrad Ecklie held upon these labs, being something which had only grown and that he had been unable to stand in his way, that his team which had been split once - and then halved, being no match too Ecklie.

That he had lost the heart and soul of his team - the unique qualities which Nick had added – with both Greg and Warrick becoming surrogate fathers to that little boy, Sara putting everything into the bringing up of her son and that the she had brought that little boy up to in every way know his father…...

As his blue eyes opened; looking at the photo.

His gaze resting there for a long moment taking in the image and that like Sara, he knew the question that little boy would one day ask. With him growing up fast and that he was a smart kid for his age and that like his father before him; he would break many a heart. With the question he would one day ask, being the one they all feared.

For it was what he seen - whenever he looked into those warm innocent brown eyes that it was as though some part of him, already understood what had befallen his father; and that it was a heavy burden for any five year old to carry….

……With that little boy, being there in every way he could for his mother - and that he was her live, with no one taking his father's place as his thoughts turned back to Nick and that if he were alive at all, he would have been proud of them both……

As he looked again at the photo his hand clenching into a fist in that moment; for it was what the years had only punctured that Nick, could be nothing other than dead and the pain which went with it.

What his blood family in Dallas had been left to suffer and Sara - and that it was something which lived in a different way in that little boy; as his thoughts at that moment came to the here and now…..

His hand releasing slowly in that moment from the clenched fist; for it was something which gave him hope and that it went against the grain of his thinking, for it was something he had protected Sara and that little boy from.

For it had not been the first time - with the chances that he was out there, that he was alive at all; being all out against them and what he did not need told….

What lay within, the evidence: the internal damage done.

With him having nothing to state otherwise - that Nicholas Stokes was anything other than dead and though it went against the science of his live.

It had been part of Nick - and it was the hope which lay etched in that little boy as his thoughts turned inwards to the phone call from Dallas, from Max Calder; the details relayed to him and what his hunch was based on.

For it was, what the cadet cop had picked up on - the remote possibility that this missing person might just be Nick, with the data what the cadet cop had managed to get.

Giving him enough to gain some sort of perspective…...

The full name and date of birth - with the individual; who he had spoken to being by all accounts a drifter and that the woman who he had helped out. What had brought him to the attention of the cop in the, first place.

Was what had struck him - with the woman travelling from Oklahoma city, having the same first name as Nick's own mother; and that it was not only that, that the Texan had been about to land himself in a whole heap of trouble had it not been for that cadet cop stepping in….

With the incident and the fact that he had been looking out for her - sounding something like what he would have expected, from his once colleague and what made this different from those times before.

For it was what had got Max Calder's full attention; the fact that the man in his late thirties had worn a silver ring on the middle finger of his right hand - and that it was something which had sent a tingle down his own spine…..

Along with what the cadet cop had also noticed something which added weight to the dishevelled description given; the scar on the left temple and that the Texan had been unwilling to talk in anyway, that it had taken a hard push to get the few details he could.

With that alone telling him something; that it fitted with the type of behaviour pattern coming from a serious head trauma; and that the pattern the destructive force of that trauma was something which affected the individual both inwardly - and outwardly.

As his blue steal gaze moved, returning to the watch his gaze locking there his thoughts becoming one in that moment and the individual; the man he had once known if he were still alive, would no longer be the same.

With the implications of that being something he did not want to consider……

Plus what was etched with it; something he could not run away from for it was something he had checked out. The details that cadet cop had given something which had sent - him and Catherine once more back into the system, too turn up anything they could.

With him making a break through one which had only raised his own anxieties further for what they had found even for a well trained eye -

Had been hard to find:

- The dual social security number and what it had held.

Something which lead him to believe that this individual – could be fraudulent and the flip side of it what made him uncertain, the possibility those merged details; were indeed correct and the person was Nick……

With that in its-self causing him more worry and his inkling what his instincts were telling him might yet be wrong. With the last two dates recorded in the system which went with the dual social security number:

Being in the rural isolated middle states; and that he had been unable to get a direct trace through those details…. with Catherine taking that data with her to see if she could get anything more in Dallas.

As his gaze swung back to official strewn documents and the personal details there with those original details not in anyway fitting; what he had now and it made him doubt even more.

That it was the missing person he was looking for…..

His thoughts wavering there, fighting his emotions, relenting as he did so and the little boy who had come to mean so much, too not only him and Catherine; was the only real connection left - as his blue eyes slid back to the black watch.

The only other link he had left to Nick and that it was material evidence with him having no further word from the woman he loved. The red-head only contacting him to tell him she had arrived safely in Dallas something which was now three days past and that he did not know.

With there fresh leads what Catherine was at this moment following up, leaving there investigation which had lain dormant open, once more and what lay at the back of his mind; something which disturbed him more than anything, for it went back to Dallas his family there and Ryan Stokes.

The possibility that Garrett, a man who had taken responsibility may not have worked alone - as his blue eyes fell to the photo at that moment and what lay with that dark thought. The implications of it; that he had missed something then and that it was something crucial…….

As his eyes closed before opening his thoughts closing on that front instead focusing on something else; on a day not so long ago and what went along with his hunch now, for the words had not been his - but that of Jim Brass.

With it being on the day of that cops retirement while they had watched that little boy run excitedly between Warrick, Greg and his mother; with him eventually meandering over there way.

The golden brown eyes giving them both a look, before showing them his latest discovery, a broad smile coming to the features at that moment; before he quietly and gently slipped back to his mother's side, there gaze following him.

With Brass's diplomatic gaze finding his at that moment the words falling with the tact which belonged only to him:

'Call it a hunch Gil but he's alive.'

As Jim Brass's gaze returned at that moment to the boy - and that he had, no reply too give to that statement with those words not being a million miles from the one's Greg Sanders had voiced long ago……

As his thoughts cut off, with that day now being three months past as his steal gaze returned to documentation on the floor and what he knew for fact - that this official binding document and its contents which were scattered on this office floor.

Were all - he had left of that Texan……

With Greg now a fully fledged CSI and that like Brass he was, now nearing his own retirement; with these labs having changed beyond recognition as his eyes closed giving in to what lay in front of him – what this missing person file telling him one thing:

That Nick was dead and that it was the one thing even now that he could not accept as he slowly at that moment stood up his thought's subsiding as he lifted the A4 sheets, the evidence which lay scattered.

His hand coming to the picture last; his gaze staying there before moving to the black watch as he slowly and carefully lifted it from its place. His gaze taking in the broken strap and cracked face as his gaze went to the aluminous dials seeing something irregular in that moment -

That it had stopped, as he tapped the face….

His features turning to a frown; and that it had been going only a few days before when he had taken it from Catherine:

With him getting no further chance, to make anything more of it…..

Hearing his fax machine; buzz into live at that moment as he looked again at the black watch.

As his steal blue gaze encrypted the fax.

With it coming from Dallas – and from Max Calder, as he looked at Catherine's enthusiastic writing and that the cop had been the one forwarding it to him.

His blue eyes discarding that information; and that Catherine had went for the old fashioned method keeping him in the dark and that his worry for her, had been unnecessary that she had been doing what she had always been best at…..

As his hand gripped the paper at that moment, seeing what was there on that first page something which made his heart beat faster; as he read it again, for a moment unable to comprehend what was there and that his hunch.

One based on human nature and not theory had been correct – and that Nick was alive….

With that in itself opening a whole new ball game as he continued to read what was highlighted there on the first sheet and that his fax machine had not stopped either with the data still coming.

As his first feelings now gave way to mixed emotion; and that what he had only been guessing at before - had now been confirmed that, the Texan had formed a pattern with the damage done, the scar on the left temple causing asymmetrical behaviour something which in itself had been far reaching…..

….and the wider scale, that those wounds were irreparable; and that his wife had found a trace to go with that dual social security number with those details what he was looking at now – giving the full picture……

That the Texan had drifted - with Catherine finding his trail in South Dakota and that the data only expanded the severity of the trauma; with him now having an essential piece of the puzzle and that Nick was more importantly alive.

With the dual social security number being only the means to an end - as his features sharpened at that moment, his gaze taking fully in the literature in front of him and to what else was here.

The social security number - only being the tip of the iceberg, as he scrolled Catherine's writing and that she had managed to trace Nick's movement's right back to a small township in Montana.

As he slowed his pace, filtering the medical data in the further sheets of A4 before him and what did not need to be addressed, that both medical and personal details had deliberately been kept of the system and that the Texans imbalanced movements had maintained the stance.

His thoughts holding there as he drew on that – with the physiological damage done to the victim being paramount and what was obvious from the subtext of what was before him. That he had been meant to live…..

As his gaze slid at that moment to the watch which had stopped a shiver running through him as his thoughts returned to where they had been, seeing that his fax machine come to a stop.

With him lifting the last few sheets bringing them over to his desk to inspect them and that Catherine was way ahead of him; with the Dallas authorities helping her out in every way they could and that his wife had managed to narrow it down.

His own thoughts widening on that and what was certain that Matthew Garrett had not worked alone and what the red-head stated clearly here, that her trace; what she herself had dug up had lead her to one man – Ewan Scott Carnahan.

A man who had played a key role and who was now held by the Montana authorities; as he looked at his statement something essential to them and that Catherine had already followed it through, with the victim in this unable to help them, that he had no memory of it…..

As his own thoughts re-forged and what had not surprised him that it was something he had somehow expected. That it was Ryan Stokes name which had come to the fore the circumstantial evidence holding on him.

His wife not playing on that though; and that the red-head believed him to be innocent, something he himself was less certain off and that Catherine was going on her gut instincts, something he himself did not doubt.

With his steal gaze refocusing at that moment and that his wife had managed to edge something more, that Ewan Carnahan a man who was now there key player had no direct link to Matthew Garrett….with those two factors been the elements binding what was before him and that Catherine did not hold all the pieces.

The new evidence before him being incomplete, with there being, one more avenue yet to be investigated:

With what they were looking for at this moment no longer residing in Dallas, where there investigation had lead before, with the answers to this puzzle lying beyond his Texas roots, something which had only been part of it and that he had missed something originally…..

As his thoughts compounded with Catherine keeping the loop that Ryan Stokes was still in the frame - and that what applied before still held at this moment. For what he Gil Grissom was dealing with was not forensic or scientific.

With there only link left in the chain, being the key and what was crucial that Ewan Scott Carnahan had worked for a time here in Las Vegas and that it would be here to Las Vegas.

That he would be brought back to when the Montana authorities were finished with him Catherine seeing to that and what his wife had managed to conclude what the evidence told her, that he was holding something else back –

With the man who had saved Nick live; only using Ryan Stokes name as a foil…..

Plus what went along with it that- his thoughts grasping at that moment the full depth and magnitude of the pieces given to him.

That whoever was responsible was still out there - and that they worked high within the law, with there original findings and the dual social security number verifying that and that they were someone acquainted with both Ewan Carnahan and Matthew Garrett.

As his thoughts catalysed his thoughts turning to the victim; and that it was a person who Nick would have once known…..with his wife bringing the course of there investigation back onto home turf with the red-head having already left the lone star state behind:

The palm of his hand coming to rest on the last sheet at that moment his thoughts turning again to the Texan and that Catherine had managed to win both the Dallas authorities and Ryan Stokes round to her thinking, and that she was bringing Nick back here….

……Back to where it had all begun, to the lions den; and that he knew her reasons, that she was keeping him under her protection and what went along with it, that it was also connected to that fatal day long ago…..

The guilt she had felt then something which had remained and something he himself carried in a different way; and that it was something they shared and that he had not stood in the red-head's way the times before when this had happened.

With there hope never dying and that they had found him together. His thought caving at that moment and that the woman who held his heart and soul had put the weight of the investigation back on him.

As he gazed at the official missing person file before him and the data it held; with what was before him now. Being something which would be incorporated into it along with the social security card his wife would be bringing with her.

His gaze falling to the photo at that moment – and what had shrouded them from the start, that the answer lay still within the law with his every move from this moment on being crucial; and that it was the individual who was under both his and Catherine's care.

Who mattered most - along with the two people it would mean most too; Sara and that little boy, who were yet unaware…..

As his thoughts returned to his wife at that moment; and that time was now of the essence, with it not being the only thing at stake - as he at that moment reached out clasping the black watch , with his blue eyes resting on the dials which had stopped, before his gaze slowly went.

To the photo and the open missing person file before him his thoughts shifting gear at that moment and that Catherine would have Nick here in Las Vegas a these crime labs within a matter of hours; and that the man who she would be bringing with her, would no longer be the individual he once knew -

With the pieces of this puzzle yet to be made a whole - as he clutched the watch tighter in that moment and what was tied tentatively to it, that he was for the first time within striking distance of breaking this investigation; as his blue eyes closed the watch slipping from his grasp….

* * *

It is the 36th state of the United States:

Enchanted by, diamond deserts and epic mountains.

Las Vegas in its most southerly corner is its jewel.

With Nevada being the 'silver state' -

And where to this day the golden eagle glides free….

* * *

Her gaze slid to those mountains, her blue ocean eyes resting there for a long moment before moving to look at the city rising before her. With Las Vegas the place that was her home, standing out cathedral like in the near distance; the metropolis spreading far in either direction.

The view breath taking in itself - as her blue eyes returned to those mountains which stood out, the sun glistening of the craggy peaks which rose heaven wards, as her gaze slowly moved to the sleeping form in the passenger seat beside her.

With his head lightly touching the window frame, the arm limp on the passenger door of the Tahoe; with her gaze not moving of him and that he was deep asleep; as her thoughts turned to Gil and Lindsay her gaze resting there still….

The handsome features even in slumber tense - as her thoughts became one, her ocean blue eyes moving back temporarily to the free-way. Before slowly moving back to him and that he had come with her.

Her gaze taking in his profile at that moment; and that it had been with a degree uncertainty that he had done so, as her thoughts turned to his family in Dallas and that Ryan Stokes had been less than willing to meet her half-roads.

With her in the end managing to get her way the Dallas authorities seeing to it; and that it had come down this soul beside her. As she looked at the handsome set features and the thin frame - and that the fragile trust she held with him.

Was something which was not going to hold for too much longer, with the time that he had been in her care margining the difference and the feeling which had grew, insider her ever since leaving Dallas.

That there was an increasing gulf between them - one she was unable to cross and that what she had already asked of him - had already been too much, with her bringing him across both New Mexico and Arizona; to Nevada the place where he had once settled.

Plus the underlying facts that she had done so without explanation to him that she had deliberately left him in the dark to certain details, with her only giving him no more the half picture; and that he did not know the further reason too why she was bringing him here….

As she looked once more at Las Vegas; and its iconic details which stood out against the sapphire blue sky, her emotions giving way at that moment and that they were still some distance away. Plus what infringed her thoughts that he had drifted and that like in Dallas, she was only now severing the problem.

Her thoughts diverting at that moment as she turned the radio up slightly and what increased her anxiety, what she was aware off something linked to the investigation in his name; that the information which Gil would know have, might not be enough.

With the inner details that they were looking for being a variant – with it more importantly being more than a decade since Ewan Carnahan had worked in Las Vegas; and what she knew in herself.

For it was something which went with the fold of this investigation - that it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack and that whoever they were looking for was an individual who had covered there tracks.

As her gaze fell at that moment to the sleeping form her thoughts going into free fall; and that the man who held the main sway of there investigation – would not be released into the Las Vegas authorities hands for a day yet.

With that time being something that they did not have at this moment; as her gaze rested on Nick and that in all there way here from Dallas and though he had had drifted in and out of sleep most of the way here:

He had barely spoken a word either - with the silence between them growing in momentum….

Plus what she had been unable to get used to; the fact that he did not know her and that held no memory of her and what added to the pain. Seeing him as we know; and that there was nothing that she could do to help him.

As her gaze took in the paleness of the features and that even in sleep he seemed to have no recluse as she seen the features twitch slightly the hand tensing as she looked at the silver ring on his right hand.

Her thoughts drifting there at that moment, as her concern full gaze stayed on him; and that he was coming to. The brown still eyes drifting open the head lifting a little. As there gaze came slowly to meet.

The handsome features turning grave as his gaze slid of hers to look beyond the free-way to what lay before them. As she sent him a smile:

'Not something you see everyday'

There was no response though, her words hanging there instead; with the brown eyes coming for a moment to briefly meet hers, before diverting as he gave a simple nod in answer.

With his response giving her no further clues and that it only edged her feelings more; and that he had picked up on it.

As the brown eyes for a moment locked on hers the look going straight to her heart as she turned the volume of the radio up. With it being a western tune that was playing; his gaze coming back to rest on her.

With nothing further been said between them; as she concentrated on her driving with Las Vegas edging nearer her thoughts turning to those there and the ache it brought to her heart.

Thinking of Sara in that moment - and that little boy, the son who this Texan did not even know he had. Her blue ocean eyes closing holding on that thought as her eyes opened her gaze going to him; and that he was neither looking at those mountains or Las Vegas….

His gaze elsewhere as she picked up what it was his brown warm eyes were focused on; and that he was at this moment unaware of her looking. As her gaze pinpointed what he was watching.

For they could be seen to her north high above the desert - a pair of golden eagles as she watched one slowly transcend the other; the movement one, as they glided ever higher. Her gaze staying on them before; she looked once more into those brown still eyes of his.

With his gaze drifting of those golden eagles in that moment, the head falling as if in thought as the brown eyes switched to the radio. His gaze for a moment coming back onto her as she seen the sleep which lay in his eyes awn.

The brown eyes closing again - as she watched him slowly drift; the emotions within her coming ashore in that moment and that they were nearing there destination her blue ocean eyes moving back at that moment to Las Vegas.

Thinking of Gil with her gaze resting there for a long moment before looking to those mountains which stood out in the far distance, as her blue eyes moved without thinking, seeing again the pair of golden eagles which Nick had been watching.

With them following her path, gliding down nearer too the desert and towards Las Vegas as her thoughts intertwined; her gaze falling at that moment to the vulnerable form beside her - as she relented to the pain within her and the gamble that she was taking…..

The light touch disturbed him slightly, the contact remaining as he felt it again harder than before. As his brown eyes slowly opened the strong sun light hitting him with force, as he took a moment to adjust to where he was.

His gaze falling at that moment to the hand which was gently placed on his wrist the sleep falling away from him at that, as his head lifted to meet the red-heads smile and that it had been her touch which had awakened him.

With his brown eyes beginning to focus seeing that they were in a parking lot, the Tahoe stationary as he now registered that the radio was also off and that they were at there destination.

The red-head continuing to smile his way - the hand releasing from his wrist at that moment as he heard her speak with him not concentrating on her words…..

As he heard her speak again – the tone giving a hint of urgency as he gave her a nod in answer with the red-head lifting her mobile phone, making a quick call in that moment; with the ice blue eyes hitting him with a further look and that she was making sure that he was ok.

The red-head taking his now non-committal reply as answer; as he seen her take a sip from the bottles water which lay between them, something she had got at there last pit stop before entering Nevada.

With him more or less sleeping most of the way here; the red-head keeping her pace something set in Dallas and that it had been in Arizona where she had stopped at the Grand Canyon giving him his time – there that there had been any real, conversation between them.

Before the last leg of there journey and that he had been deflecting her even then, though he had come with her; and what she could not hide from him - that his brother was involved some where down the line and that the red-head was playing the cards close to her chest.

As she offered him at that moment - some of the bottled water with him shacking his head turning her down; and what was there in those ocean blue eyes of hers. That she was holding something else further back from him - and that she was protecting him…..

With the red-head unaware of his thoughts as he watched her articulately gather her things; his gaze following her sure movements as the ocean blue eyes came back onto his, there gaze linking in that moment and that he knew what went with that look.

That he was to go along with her - as he slowly pulled the handle, the Tahoe door opening as he nervously stepped out. His brown eyes returning to the red-head as he stood where he was, taking in the built up non-descript area they were in.

The red-head coming to his side at that moment, with her guiding him as he looked her way noting the official document under her arm….

His gaze staying on her and the one other thing she had mentioned what had caught his attention before the picture – and that it was her daughter and that he wondered at the same time, what this independent woman's husband was like; and that he was not going to have much longer to find out.

With them coming to a stop his hand lifting to touch his left temple at that moment; and that what he had felt in Dallas, was ten-fold to what he felt know - and that he did not want to go any further…..

The red-heads touch tightening at that moment - with fear rooting him to the spot and that he had worked here, in this official building which had law and justice at its core; as he continued to look around him looking at the unfamiliar landmarks and then to Catherine Grissom.

Her gaze also on the Crime Labs in front of him; with the look on her fine features matching his thoughts as he relaxed a little, the tenseness remaining though as he took a breath. His thoughts lingering and that he was unsure of what was coming after this……

As his gaze went downwards gathering his thoughts the red-head glancing his way as she stepped forward entering the angular traditional building –

His gaze following hers; and that it was not the main entrance that they were walking into but a side entrance. With that in its self puzzling him and that he did not want to question her on it.

With the red-head knowing where she was going; as she continued to direct him his own gaze staying down wards only lifting occasionally to take in what was around him.

The sights and sounds alien to him with the corridors being dark and non-descript as his hand lifted for a moment, to the fountain pen she had given him and that though he trusted her; he had felt secure in Dallas and that the only individuals that he in any way remembered were there…..

As they came to a swift halt at that moment – his thoughts getting no further, as he looked at the long corridor that they were both on and that it was eerily quite here. With him becoming alert for the first time, to the fact that the red-head's gaze was no longer on him.

His own gaze taken instead - solely by the technological labs which branched off in either direction from this corridor, with nervousness flooding back through him in that moment and that he needed every inch of this woman's support…..

With the touch on his arm slackening slightly as his brown eyes which had darted coming at last to a stop; his gaze focusing at that on the three lone figures that he could see at the end of the long corridor.

They were watching him - as he looked at the individual further away from him; a man in his early thirties. With handsome features and that there was a clear expression of shock and concern on his features and that it was something which was imprinted also on the taller African American who stood beside him.

As his brown soft eyes moved feeling increased remoteness in that moment as he looked to the individual who stood a little further forward from them, a man in his late fifties, with greying hair and steal blue eyes that were looking directly into his - and that even from here there was an air of authority about him.

With his gaze faltering at that moment unable to stay where it was - as his gaze went to the only place it could - to the red-head beside him. With her gentle touch being his only stability her arm staying linked through his and that he knew that the man who was watching them both now could only; be this woman's husband….

…..As his steal blue eyes came at that moment to meet his wife's and that he could sense behind him that both Greg and Warrick were coming - no further forward. With it being him alone being the one to come forward to great Catherine and the man beside her.

His gaze unable to move of them both; and that he knew why Greg and Warrick had come no further forward, the image itself stopping him in his tracks as he looked again at Nick.

Whose brown eyes were at this moment elsewhere and that his wife was giving him time to slowly adjust to the unfamiliar surrounding of these labs; with the brown warm eyes unable to stay in any one place.

With that alone telling him something – and that the clean cut, confident Texan that he had once known was no longer before him. With the attire being loose and tousled; the checked shirt that he wore, emphasising the thinness of the already lean frame.

As something caught his steal gaze at that moment, as his gaze for a moment slid to the woman he loved there gaze interlinking and holding in that moment – before his blue slowly moved to where they had been. To the man beside her and what was in the pocket of his shirt. The fountain pen he had given Catherine.

His gaze staying there as he took in for a second time, how thin the Texan beside her was. That where there had been muscle; there was now just bone and flesh. As his blue eyes rose; to the handsome set features.

With there being a few more lines across those handsome features; with the square jaw no longer tight but slack instead with the cheeks being hollow also as his blue eyes registered at that the slight slump of the shoulders; and that there was slowness in his demeanour.

His gaze moving at that as the brown eyes slowly followed his own movements and that the brown short hair was a little longer than he remembered it as he looked at that moment at the deep scar on the left temple.

With it being something that the brown hair was unable to cover his gaze focusing on it as he took in the paleness of the features and the clear stubble; which ran across the jaw line.

Connecting them as he did so to that wound and that the scar did not take away from the looks which were withdrawn as the brown eyes rose at that moment to fully meet his, with the brown eyes being sunken and depthless.

The look alone hitting him with pain - and that there was not the tinniest hint of recognition there in those brown pools. As there gaze levelled the brown eyes continuing to look into his.

With his thoughts turning at that to what had brought him here now to this moment - the investigation in his name, to where it had delved to his family, to his own father; to one Matthew Garrett and Ryan Stokes and what lay encircled with it – Sara and that little boy and that they had thought him dead…..

……His hunch only know when it was already to late helping to find him and that he was alive - with him having the essential pieces of the puzzle - that the noose had been cut and that he was no longer missing; with someone wanting it as such and that the clock was now ticking against him in a whole new way……

With what had been the backbone of Nick's live, foretelling his every turn in this investigation and that science was obsolete to them; the answer even at this moment lying elsewhere and that he Gil Grissom was still to find the individual responsible for this….

As he felt a fresh stab of pain in that moment one which sunk deep into him - as he looked deep, into those brown still eyes - with the look which lay there in those brown pools remaining as his blue eyes for a second closed.

His breath catching in that moment as his eyes slowly opened. His steal blue gaze coming back onto those brown lifeless eyes as his thoughts turned inwards; his gaze going to Catherine in that moment with them sharing look….

Before his gaze returned to where it had been and that there was something essential missing in those brown eyes as his thoughts personified – thinking of the watch, the possession which lay at this moment in the office behind him….

As the brown still eyes now focused solely on him in that moment and what pierced his heart that the Nick Stokes, the CSI three who had worked under him, the Texan he had come to understand and the man he had looked upon as a son was already dead…….

TO BE CONTINUED

p.s Although I'm no Quantine Tarantino do you think I could give them fair run for there money? & is it worth continuing?


	8. Unbound

Hanging by a Moment

- Unbound a.k.a Lost Sons (part two)

Chapter Eight

Author: Jen

The hand in his added slight pressure, his gaze slowly lifting at that to meet the ocean blue eyes - as he clasped the hand tighter; feeling the smaller hand responding to his as there gaze became one in that moment. There thoughts interlinking.

As Catherine's ocean blue eyes fell away from him at that moment, the anguish in her gaze saying what they both felt. As he looked at the official private and confidential document which lay open between them.

With his wife's gentle touch leaving his at that moment, as the red-head's professional tone carried across to him - and what was there with it, what he could read on her delicate features and what she was unable to hide from him.

The pain they both shared and that they were now in this moment - in a whole new kind of territory and that it was something which for them both; had brought an altogether different level of anguish as Catherine's tone minimized:

'We're looking in the wrong place'

His blue eyes shot his wife a glance the ice blue pools giving him, the same look back as they now carefully butted the point.

With the red-head beating him to it and that she was not going to be dissuaded either:

'It's not bringing us any closer Gil'

The tone matter of fact, the ocean blue eyes locking with his and that they were in disagreement. With there fresh leads what Greg was following up for them running dry and the individual the suspect they were looking for.

Was remaining in the wood-work with them having to dig deeper - and what added to his wife's feeling at this moment, for it was something which ran with there line of investigation.

That they could not get Ewan Carnahan here fast enough. …

As he looked the red-heads way once more taking her fine beauty; and the fire which went with it. For it was something stoked at this moment - and that his wife's thoughts were now elsewhere her gaze no longer on him, as his own gaze fell back on the file. ….

His thoughts slowly drifting over these last few hours, as his gaze remained stagnantly on the document. His blue eyes closing at that moment with the Texan the individual who Catherine had brought with her from Dallas, solely being under there care and protection.

With him being reticently quite and that what had shook him the most. For it was something which what had disturbed him also; and that it lay far and beyond the vacant look which was in those brown warm eyes of the Texan - and that he held no memory of them…...

For it was it was combined with:

The nervousness, the slowness of his actions and the stillness which petered; his every move and that it was something which was aberrant - and what lay with it that the Texan was only the shell of the man he once knew…..



As his blue eyes opened his gaze finding the sanctuary of his wife's gaze as the blue ocean eyes rested on his; there thoughts interconnecting and that what they were unable to speak – only merged there pain.

With the fragile trust what Catherine, held with him.

Being something which was now at this moment slipping away from them, with his wife fighting to keep it - the tide turning against them and that he himself had been unable to add to it…..

The red-head alone holding any sway with him and that it was adding more pressure onto the Texan, something he did not want…..with his thoughts shifting and that Nick was at this moment under Warrick's care while he and the strong woman across from him scouted for anything further.

As he looked into his wife's ocean blue eyes.

That were, tear tinged the sparkle in them being distant, as he reached out taking the smaller hand gently back into his; with nothing being said between them as he now spoke the blue ocean eyes glancing into his:

'Sara'

There colleagues name falling between them as he shifted his wife a further look; and that he was sidelining the issue, with Catherine's steady gaze falling once more as the hand in his tightened its grasp.

The touch alone sweeping through him as he looked at what was at his left hand side on the desk before him, the black watch lay there the dials unmoving; as he looked at what now sat beside it.

Something authentic looking - as he looked at the number on the social security card and that it was a small crucial piece of the puzzle as he glanced at Catherine. Whose blue eyes were at this moment focused on the black watch, the hand releasing from his as the ocean blue eyes lifted.

There thoughts tying as one in that moment, as the red-head continued to keep her steady gaze on him. The look unwavering as he sunk himself deep in those blue ocean depths, his steal gaze answering too the unspoken call that was in his wife's eyes.

As his own, gaze went at that beyond the red head to the open office door and the long corridor it looked out onto:

His thoughts turning at that moment solely to Nick; the individual under there care with the Texan being in the main unofficial room - on the left hand side of that corridor he was currently looking out onto and that Catherine had spoken truth…..

…..That they were no closer to finding the individual responsible and that they were running out of time as the red-heads small hand linked back through his. There gaze meeting as he looked once more; at the open missing person file before him - and that it was what there entwined hands rested on…..

With the red-head setting him a look, one that hit his heart, as her gentle tone cut back across to him and that her words what she was telling him at this moment - was there only option.

The one they had too take for it involved the two individuals who had the soul right to know about this as he thought again of that little boy; and that he and his mother. The woman who all this would mean most to - had been kept in the dark long enough….

With the gamble which Catherine, had taken:



In bringing Nick back here away from his Texas roots, his family there; and from Ryan Stokes an individual who the finger of suspicion still lay upon, for it was irresolute and what went with it, what his family in Dallas were left suffering - and that it was not the first time….

……With them putting the vulnerable defenceless man; who was under both there care and protection at an even greater risk and that it was something he could not help either. Plus the fact that he could not blame either the Dallas authorities or his family for wanting the Texans safe return to the lone star state….

As his thoughts slanted thinking again in that moment - of the soul a little further down that corridor and that what had threaded his live, the system itself was not helping them any, with the suspect remaining indeterminate…

Plus what hurt more than anything for it brought an altogether different kind of pain and that it was something which lay entwined with there own guilt and that it was something itself which had found a new alcove.

For it was what engulfed his wife and bled his own heart, that they could not help him, with Nick being a stranger to them. His hand slowly disengaging from the red-heads at that thought – there hands no longer entwined, and that no matter the consequences and the further pain he was now about to cause:

He knew that the individual, the woman and single mother; he was about to call upon was the only person who might be in anyway - able to reach that vulnerable soul and that he was in no way about to give up on him, that it was Nick…..

With his thoughts; compounding at that thought.

Not wanting to think otherwise - that it was too much to bear; and the simple fact what lay within there own findings for it was something he and his wife were at this moment were unwilling to accept. That the Texan was never likely to remember them….



As his thoughts turned instead at that moment to there investigation with there trail running even now from hot to cold; and that the last crucial pieces of this puzzle still lay beyond his own grasp and the one further certainty -

For it shone at this moment in those ocean blue eyes of Catherine's; that who ever had orchestrated this had known exactly what they had been doing from the start and that they were now at this moment.

Playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with the individual, who they were trying there hardest to pin down, lying close - as he looked his wife's way and what was also there in those blue ocean eyes, for it was something they were both aware off….

…..That time its self had eradicated anything that might lead them, to there prime suspect with Ewan Carnahan being there only other means; along with one factor for it was something which neither of them could forget.

That Ryan Stokes was the loose pivot……

As Catherine's blue eyes flared at him and that they were in this together; for it was the live which bound them as one - as his wife's hand slid gently back into his.

His other hand lifting the phone, with his steal gaze becoming one with the ocean blue eyes in that moment as they turned to look at one thing - the black watch - and the significance it held to them both…..

With Catherine's slender hand tightening its grip there thoughts thinking only of him in that moment; and that this was a phone call like no other…..



* * *

Sara looked at her five year old son, partly in pride he was growing strong and bright for his years but she also felt guilt when as she looked into those innocent warm brown eyes of her son, it was his father that was looking back at her and the fact he would never see this little man grow and become like him, it choked her even know almost six years later.

Carefully lifting him, ruffling the brown hair, the kid smiled and she hoped at least in some ways he would not take after his father but by the looks of it, with that smile and those innocent eyes she had no hope and wished once more that Nicky Stokes was here to see this.

She sighed long and deep looking out her window Catherine would be coming in a short time, after she had got back from some special case in Dallas… Dallas her thoughts turned inwards, Nick had came from there and ended up working in the dazzling back drop of Las Vegas as CSI.

A smile came to her face remembering his enthusiasm and humanity that he applied to everything, something she had loved from the first, without even knowing it. Only fate brought them together and the seed that had been there since the first moment she had laid eyes on that vulnerable but strong man was allowed to flourish the friendship turning to something more before it was all taken from her, almost all as she looked at her son…

Tears started to come as she looked out onto the bright suburban street, which was her backyard. For a moment she closed her eyes, took her hand to her cheek wiping away the tears, she was not sure how long she had looked out that window thinking about him, but the tug at her arm implied that someone was hungry but she was mistaken looking down into the all too serious eyes of her son:

'Where is daddy?' the one questioned she had always dreaded and knew would inevitably come and the truth was although he was more than likely to be dead she could not bring herself to say it.

The boy stood impatiently looking from her to the one of the few photos' there was of her and Nick together, it was an old photo, long before there relationship but it captured them perfectly:



Nick to taken with the work at hand, was busy showing her what he had unearthed, he was looking up at her, she smiling down at him questioning what he had found. The light of the camera silhouetted him to the grimy but photogenic backdrop but it was the look on that handsome face of his more than anything, the love in those intense brown eyes even then for her, he was reaching up to grab her hand just as the camera had clicked, picture perfect and it felt like a life time ago, as the same brown eyes of his son, asked the question she could not answer.

It was at that moment the phone rang and once more those serious brown eyes looked into hers:

'Will I get it mum?' somehow with that look in his face and confidence far beyond his years; she quickly regained her composure she had to be strong for his sake.

The phone was still ringing and had thankfully given her leeway to get of the subject of his father, she shook her head:

'I'll get it' and with that she smiled her son looked at her, with that same look as his father on him again, gaining strength from that look, she tried to block out the flashback of Nick wrapping his arms round her and the safety that came with that feeling. However it was pointless as she remembered the warmth of his touch and the protection that came with it but her son quickly brought her back to the present the image gone:

'I love you mum' they looked at each other a moment longer and then she raced to get the phone, hoping it would be Catherine.

With it not being Catherine – that it was Gil's voice at the other end of the phone. The tone unfamiliar his message to the point and that he was giving her no chance to reply as the phone line at that moment went dead and that he had hung up on her…..

Her dark eyes giving the phone receiver a puzzled look and that there had been something else in his tone – an urgency that she had never heard as she slowly put the phone down and that he had asked her to bring Nicky with her. Something she would have done anyway.



As her thoughts stayed there, her suspicions aroused that something was up and that it somehow involved them both with her shaking her head at that, dismissing the thought; and that Grissom's lack of words had only worried her more.

With her thoughts returning at that to the question, she had just been asked only a few moments before the phone had rang as her features gave way at that moment, her dark eyes closing in pain…

Thinking only of him -

The man who she loved with all her heart and soul…..

With the record alone stating one thing - that though he was still missing.

Nick could be nothing other than deceased - and that it was the one thing that she was unwilling even now to accept and that he the good strong man - who was the father of there child.

Should have been at her side, to share every moment of this with her:

To have seen the look in those intense brown eyes of his, at there son's first words, his first faltering steps and too all she herself had felt; the heartache and joy of watching this little boy the seed of there love…..

Grow from the tiny baby in her arms, the toddler under her feet - to the enthusiastic, strong and vibrant five year old he now was and what made it hurt all the more what brought a different ache to her heart.

That he could not be there with her at every high and low of this little boys life; and what went with it what struck at her heart - and added to the pain for it was something which had only grown with the years.



The guilt she could not help but feel, the responsibility she held and that she had brought this little life, the one they had forged, into the world without him - and that her child, his son had not made his way through. To see who the phone call had been from……

Something which was unlike him - as her dark eyes slowly opened with her thoughts holding there on Nick as she came back at that moment to the present. With her lifting the Tahoe keys as she made her way back through.

Coming to a stop as she did so:

Her gaze tenderly watching the little man before her and that he had not seen her yet as she stayed where she was and that he had lifted the one photo from the mantelpiece.

The picture of them both - with the brown innocent eyes taking in everything that picture revealed to him and the image of his father - and that he was unaware off her. The head bowed as he sat on the rug clutching the photo.

With tears coming to her eyes at that moment fresh guilt passing through her and that he had never known his father - the vulnerable man, who had touched her live in the way no other could - as she continued to look his way and that this little soul.

Who was off both there flesh and blood was the only part of him left to her, as her thoughts caved to what all she had kept from him; too what had happened to Nick – and the investigation in his name, something which had lain quiescent:

With those details along with what they had turned up - being what she had protected this little boy from and that it was something which they both would have wanted, as her thoughts went into free fall her dark eyes closing and that she had maintained contact with his family in Dallas.

This little boy knowing his cousins there as her dark eyes slowly opened her thoughts turning at that moment to Ryan Stokes the eldest son of the father, who Nick had never been close to and that on the few occasions. When she had seen him in these years she had seen the effect that this little boy had, had on him.

The dark brown eyes softening at the sight of him; and that it had cancelled any last doubts in her, own mind to how Ryan had felt towards Nick as her thoughts combined thinking of all his siblings and that Matthew Garrett, the man held responsible.

Was dead with law and justice entrapping them and that there had been no closure with the passage of time giving one answer, the one she refused even know these years later to relent too that Nick was dead - and his love…..

Something untouchable and endless like the stars, in the heavens above lay forever in her heart as she looked again at the boy before her. Her dark eyes drifting at that moment to the window her gaze going beyond the urban suburbs to those mountains.

Which struck out in the distance with her dark intelligent eyes resting there on that vast frontier thinking only of him; and the love which he had encircled and enveloped her with was something which had never faded - that it had only grown as her gaze returned at that moment to where it had been.

To look at the young set features of there son:

With this little boy being her live - with her bringing him up to in everyway know Nick the vulnerable strong man who she loved; and what wrenched her heart, that the individual, the man who would have went to the ends of the earth for her - could be nothing other than dead….

As a fresh tear slid freely down her cheek at that thought…..

Her dark eyes returning at that moment - to where they had been seeing the strong set features change the look touching her soul as she slowly walked forward coming down to his height at that moment as he now sat on her lap.

With her gently taking the picture from him:



The head rising to look into hers - with her placing the picture back where it had always sat her dark eyes for a moment staying on it, taking in the image of the man she had never, once stopped loving as she now looked to his son.

Whose warm brown eyes were focused on her; the live vibrant in his gaze as they continued to look at one another with nothing been said as he gently in that moment wrapped his arms around her.

Giving her a hug as she brought him closer to her, the little body responding as she came out the hug, with her managing to find a smile for him, her hand coming up to touch his cheek - before going through the short brown thick hair of his, with her smoothing it down.

His brown eyes tear filled, there gaze resting on one another; as he found his voice again in that moment:

'Who was on the phone mum?'

The look turning inquisitive at that moment as she looked his way and that he had carefully changed the subject away from his father and that she was unable to hold back her own tears at that moment.

As she took in the look in those warm brown eyes of his; and that he was trying to be strong for her as she now replied.

Her tone clear:

'Grissom'

With him putting two and two together, the features turning serious again before lighting up:



'Does that mean we're going to the labs?'

As she wiped away her tears, smiling at him; giving him a nod in answer as her own gaze slid back at that moment to the photo, with memories flooding her as gaze focused now on her son - seeing a look of determination cross into his set features.

With that look being enough; and that he needed her as she lifted his denim jacket helping him put it on. There gaze coming to meet in that moment; and that he was her strength, with this boy….

….His son being her only hope, that he might yet be alive; the small hand linking with hers at that moment as she looked his way, taking in his sturdy agile frame and that no one could fill his father's place, that no one was able to…..

That her heart beat one with his - and that she would remain true to him in the way he would have to her - and that her spirit, heart and soul were forever his; as she looked into those intense warm brown eyes of the boy, who was his son.

With her hand coming up to gently once more touch his cheek as that moment with that golden smile of his coming to the fore as they shared a look. The boy at her side now talking to her - as she listened intently to his words seeing; the elaboration and heart that he put into everything.

As her dark intelligent gaze gave him a glance the serious brown eyes playing of hers as she now gently lifted him to her hip the boy settling himself there. With her dark eyes taking in at that the familiar surroundings of the place which was home for the two of them and that the part Nick had played in both there lives.

Was visible in every part of this room as she pushed back her tears; concentrating on the life beside her and that she was unable to fill the gapping space in both there lives with there only ever being one individual who could; the good strong man who was this boys father …..

…..The Texan who she loved in every way and that if he were in anyway alive, that he had somehow survived - then there was one further cross to bare, as she looked to there son…..



Seeing the love shining there in his brown eyes and that if Nick were out there she would do anything for him; and that she could not give up hope as those brown intense eyes, of his son hit sent her a look.

With the ache in her heart growing - as the innocent gaze focused solely on her seeing only the love and protection which Nick had encircled her with, shining there in the brown depths as she carefully let him down, the boy staying close beside her as they reached the Tahoe.

Her gaze staying on him, his brown warm eyes resting only on her - and that it was though he had been able to read her every thought - with her son's gentle voice at that moment carrying across to her.

With him asking about the labs - as she turned the key, the Tahoe engine starting up as her dark eyes closed; and that the man she loved only belonged in the past tense as she looked once more to the boy beside her.

The serious brown eyes set on her own as she thought only of him – to be in his arms, his embrace - as tears slid once more down her cheek. With an old habit kicking in at that moment as she now slowly started to sing, the tears coming freely.

As she once more took in the look on her son's young set features.

With the brown innocent eyes resting lovingly on her as her voice rose; at that moment her heart breaking - and that this little boy there son, was all she had left of him…..

As his mother continued to sing his warm brown eyes closing listening to her; and that his heart ached as it always did:

When his mother sang and that she was crying - something which made his little heart ache all the more, as her gentle voice rose at that moment; and that he had upset her something he had not wanted to do and that he loved her.

With his mother being there for him ever since he could remember; and that whenever he was upset or had, had bad dreams….

She was the person there for him to hush him and sooth him - and like what she was doing now; she would sing to him - knowing its effect on him and that her singing voice was something shared only between them.

As he pushed back his tears once more at that moment; and that it was something connected deeply also to his father……

With his thoughts personifying as he once more looked to his mother his brown eyes opening and what was there in those dark starlight eyes of hers – the immeasurable love, for the individual who he had been named after….

…..The person who he loved and who he had never known; with it being only what other people had told him about his father - that had given him any kind of idea as his features clouded at that moment….

With his mother and Lindsay being the ones to give him the most information as his features now gave way his eyes closing; and that it was Warrick and Greg that were the two people who were in anyway a kind of a father to him - and that though he liked them both.

They were not his father…..

His brown eyes opening once more at thought - with the anomic stories that Grissom, Warrick and Greg had filled his heart with:

Giving him a further clue to what his father's exploits had been and that from what he had been able to read into it his father had been a bit of dare devil; and that he had also been well liked…..

As his gaze fell on his mother, seeing the tears in her dark starlight eyes and what he did not doubt for he could see it at this moment in her gaze and that it was something he had always known - was how much his parents had loved each other:

With it being here in Las Vegas where they had met and fell in love…..

His thoughts drifting at that as he looked again his mother's way her gaze finding his at that moment as she continued to sing and although he knew his parents had never been married; his father had been there in every way possible for his mother and that they had been deeply in love:

As his thought's - now progressed.

Thinking again of his father and though he knew both his parents had worked together for a long time. There relationship the time they had, had together as a couple had been a short one and that he had no memory of his father….

With his warm brown eyes closing his thoughts holding there; and that it was the one thing which no one mentioned to him - that it was a no go area…. and he was aware that whatever had befallen his father had happened before he had been born.

As his brown eyes slid open at that moment.

His thoughts deepening - and that his mother was no longer singing, as he registered the reason why - with them having hit the early evening Las Vegas rush hour traffic with his mother's dark starlight eyes back on him…..

As he now rose purposely under her tender watchful eye to look out the window at the vehicles which were whizzing past on either side of them his gaze staying there and this Tahoe.

What they both sat in and what his mother was currently driving had been his fathers with his mother not changing it - that she had kept it.

As his thoughts focused solely; at that moment on his father.

His brown eyes continuing to look at the other vehicles for a moment more before his brown eyes gently closed and that his father; seemed to fit the cowboy persona and that he had been there for others…..



With his thoughts becoming one in that moment and that he missed his father, with all that he had been told not being enough –

As his thought's quadrupled. Hearing his mother's singing voice once more and though she was not singing it right now:

There was one special song that she would sing to him.

For it was the one which he knew the words to heart too - and that when she sang it he knew it would be his father, not him that she would be seeing in those moments as his warm brown eyes fell open once more…..

His gaze going lovingly to his mother seeing the look in her dark starlight eyes; as his emotions gave way completely at that moment and though it was something never mentioned to him or talked about.

He was aware that something bad had befallen his father and that he did not know; something which only confused him further - and that he had only what he had been able to figure out for him self - and what added to the pain…

For it was something which he had been told often enough.

That he should look so much like him….

As his thoughts broke at that moment his gaze returning to his mother seeing the pain across her fine features and that she had taken him twice to the lone star state. To Texas - and too Dallas.

To the home where his father had grown up - with him happily playing with his cousins there and that he had liked it there; while his mother had talked quietly to his aunts and one uncle, someone whom he was less certain off.

As his thoughts now trailed shifting direction and connecting the two - and that the question he had asked his mother. Was the one that until know he had not wanted to ask. That he had been frightened of what her answer might be; and that it was the one thing never touched upon…..

With a stray thought entering his head at that moment his features caving at that moment too when he had indirectly mentioned it - and that it had been both; Warrick and Greg that he had put on the spot at different times.

The latter of the two turning quite, while Warrick had quickly changed the subject away from his father; and that the only other two people that he might have asked were that little bit older…..

As his thoughts turned at that to Gil and Catherine and that like his mother, he felt they were not the people to ask and that he liked them both a lot; with Grissom's office being a treasure trough to him and that Gil:

Would at the same time; tell him different things about his father….

With him taking it all in - and that he reckoned Grissom had thought a lot of his father. As he remembered something his mother had told him. That it had been Catherine who had been close to his father -

His thoughts cantering at that; and that the red-head frightened the life out of him and that whenever she was around, he knew he was to be on his best behaviour something which had proved difficult on more than one occasion. With Catherine being there for him at other times; when his mother was unable to be…..

As his thoughts now meandered – his gaze returning lovingly to his mother at that moment and that when she was not there, that when she was at her work; he would be in the care off someone close and that if it was not Catherine, Warrick or Greg:

It would be Lindsay's careful eye he would come under and that Lindsay had been the one too give him the best picture of his father, something which he had clung too; and that she had been the age he was now, when she had known his father.

With Lindsay being the only one out with him mother…..

Too not over describer-rate his father as his thoughts now turned inwards and that the pictures and stories which he had been told, had given him no physical metaphor. His gaze lifting at that moment - too collide with his thoughts.

With the Tahoe slowing slightly in the buzzing Las Vegas traffic – as his brown warm eyes moved at that onto his mother's fine features with her singing silenced once more by the traffic as he seen.

The tears which lay fresh on her cheek's and that he was unable too comfort her as his gaze rested there where it was; and that his mother's love for his father…..

Was something which had never wavered, as his thoughts now catapulted for it was something which pulled at his little heart; and that it was the dark thought, he was unable to shift.

For it was the one which had always been there - as he pushed back tears once more and that maybe if he had not come along….

His parents might still be together; and that his father would be there for his mother with Lindsay letting something else slip. Something which had brought that dark thought to the forefront of his mind:

With it being not so long ago that it had happened and when also he had been as today looking at that one photo of his father and mother, with Lindsay coming over to gaze at the photo as well before lifting it down for him so he could take a closer inspection of the photo. Where his parent's had looked so taken on each other.

As he now remembered Lindsay's words to him then and that her features had paled her tone dropping before subsiding as she had slowly in her own way told him one fact something at the same time which he could not completely understand or comprehend.

That his father was listed somewhere as being missing and that she did not know whether he was alive or dead only that he was gone from all there lives as her gaze moved from the photo - slowly to him and then to the window and the view that he and his mother shared out onto those mountains beyond the suburbs.

With Lindsay's gaze staying there her words silenced as he too for a long moment looked out onto those peaks and then back to Lindsay seeing tears in her eyes as his gaze returned to the photo.



Taking in every inch of the image of his father and what instincts alone had told him that his father had been badly hurt in someway and though the jumbled pieces did not fit Lindsay's small amount of words had helped answer one thing.

That maybe he was the reason why his father had been hurt in the first-place and that if he were not dead if he were in anyway alive, then he was in someway responsible - for his father being missing….

….With Lindsay giving him nothing more that she had told him too much then and there - and that she had given him more than most, with her carefully taking the photo back off him at that moment, returning it to the mantle-piece to its rightful place.

His own gaze lingering there for a moment more before with, Lindsay adjectively diverting his thoughts and that what she had told him that day had remained only between them. That he had not breathed a word of it to his mother and that he had not wanted to land Lindsay in trouble either.

When she had in her own way only been trying to help him a little, too understand something that no other adult in his life would talk to him about. As his thoughts now came to the present hearing his mothers singing once more as he took in the words, to that one song, the one he knew by heart.

As he looked lovingly at that moment to his mother and that she was no longer crying, her dark eyes instead full of fire as he thought again of his father and that he would do anything to see, touch - and hear the sound of his father's voice.

With his brown eyes closing his thoughts one and what went along with that question he had asked his mother. For it was what his little heart could not committee too and was etched at this moment on the fine features of his mother.

For it was part of the vast pain that she was unable to hide from him and was what had upset them both so much for it lay at this moment unspoken between them. The words she had been unable to speak….

That his father was more than likely to be dead as his brown soft eyes turned once more to his mother and too what she had been trying her best to protect him from - and that he loved her with all his heart and soul.

As his features gave way at that moment a tear releasing as the ache which clutched his little heart gained. With the last notes playing across to him at that moment as his mothers singing voice rose.

His brown warm eyes focusing solely on her and that she was the centre of his world with her always being there for him and that she had along with it, brought him up alone and that the gap in both there lives.

The loneliness and heartache he could see at this moment in his mother's dark starlight eyes for the individual who she loved and who he had been named after always being there and that he could in no way bridge that gap….

As his thoughts inwardly tore apart - his gaze sweeping outwards once more to what he could see beyond the tahoe's passenger windows and that the suburban streets of home were now far behind them.

The monumental architecture of the foyer of Las Vegas instead rose on either side of him and that his mother was taking him by the scenic route and it was one that he hoped would continue once they got the lengths of the labs.

As his sensitive gaze watched the shadows of the buildings as they played of each other, light and dark merging over the Tahoe as it travelled forward with the traffic now beginning to disperse, a little on its different routes.

His gaze staying there as they weaved forward with his brown eyes taking delight in the monumental frontier as his gaze moved, the high buildings depleting slowly and to what had just come back into view rising magnetically from the desert way in the distance.

The Rocky Mountains where his mother so often took him and that he so loved. With his thoughts shifting back at that to his father and going by all, his mother had told him.

Those mountains had also held a special place in his father's heart as he turned at that his mother's way. Her singing now past and that it had helped sooth them both with the fire which burned deep in her dark starlight eyes now aflame.

As her gentle features turned at that moment to look his way as he sent her a smile, this time receiving one back and that the distress which lay rooted and unspoken between them was not entirely gone.

With his mother's starlight eyes moving at the same moment as his, to those mountains in the far distance. As they now shared a look. His brown eyes serious in return and those mountains like his mother were a constant too him and that there was something more in that look of hers at this moment.

That it made his little heart beat all the faster, with that full smile of his mothers enveloping him and that he felt safe and protected under her steady gaze with the father that he loved with all his heart and soul.

Being missing from both there lives - as his gaze moved pushing back tears once more in that moment the landmarks now becoming distinctly familiar to him the tahoe beginning to slow slightly.

With his brown eyes taking it all in, his thoughts etched at that moment only on his father as they exited the freeway thee metropolis now distant his thoughts coinciding and to where his mother had once taken him….

…..To where she herself had grown up near San Francisco with his gaze looking out upon the mighty Pacific Ocean and that he had wondered at that moment while he had stood close to his mother if his father had ever laid eyes upon that same ocean….

As his gaze swept at that precise moment back to his mother seeing the ocean of love and fragility in her dark starlight eyes and what broke his little heart even more the guilt he could not once speak off and what lay compounded with that:

That he missed his father in everyway possible…..

With no one ever being able to take his father's place and for his small number of years. He wished he could do more to help his mother who did so much for him and the immeasurable pain they both shared.

Was something which only grew along with him and that he could do nothing to diminish it as his gaze leapt to his mother his father belonging only in the past to before he had been born and to what went along with the photo's of his father - the images.

All that his mother, Lindsay, Catherine, Grissom, Warrick and Greg had filled his head with were unable to fill that vast void, for it was what clutched his soul and that his mother along with it was alone in the world with no one at her side and all she had taught him.

The inner strength, the foundations of his life coming from his mother who was the centre of his world and that the all inspiring mountains, the diamond deserts which he had looked out upon for as long as he could remember and were the alcove of this part of Nevada.

For it was the other thing she had taught him well and lay envisaged in his fathers Britannica collection something alone which was sacred to him the geography of every state its significance along with its history…..

The battle of Wounded Knee and Little Bighorn - the pioneers, the cowboys and Indians, the people who had conquered this un-ruled land and that it had personified his scope too the vastness which was his homeland frontier with it intriguing and firing his imagination and what had astonished his mother.

That along with all she had taught him there was something which had forever sent his gaze to the heavens. To the golden eagles that soared and glided over this land and there significance that they were emblem of power and that he knew every species of bird.

The labs holding the same type of intrigue for him and that it had also been his father's place of work with the individual who he missed with all his little heart being someone who he could not think of as being gone.

That he could not think of his father in that way of being dead and that his extended family in the southern state of Texas were on the same axis. That his father was never the less missing and that however small the odds he in so many different ways wanted his father to be alive as his thoughts cascaded.

His brown eyes watching the blur of the passing buildings his mother once more beginning to slow the Tahoe as the route now opened out on either side of them and that they were nearing there destination. With the labs being a place of scientific knowledge, law and justice and though he did not fully understand all of these things.

He knew the full importance of his mothers work and that when he had grown up a little. He wanted in every way possible to follow in the footsteps of what both his father and mother had done as there profession.

With his mother adding something further - how much being a CSI had meant to his father - and that he had been by his methods and philosophy, a lone star in every way with the shear determination and stubborn nature of his.

Being something that he himself had inherited big time - and what his mother was more often or not telling him about as his golden smile at last came to the fore thinking about the individual who he had never once met and who he took so much after.

His mother picking up on it at that moment, with her sending him a wink as his smile broadened with her now talking about who they would see at the labs, the dark eyes strong, her features pale and that for the moment. The subject of his father was no longer up for discussion.

As his gaze focused solely at that moment on his mother - knowing how much she had loved his father and to how much they had been there for each other and that he did not know, whether he was alive or dead.

That he was left only with the not knowing and the burden, what his own instincts and what little he had managed to figure out for himself lay yet strewn before him as the cataclysmic ache which filled his little heart for his father - only in that moment grew in strength.

His smile fading once more as his mother's gaze again found his at that moment, her spirit lifting him as he shot her a look there gaze playing of each other. With her full smile coming to the fore at that moment as he melted under the look and that they were nearly there.

With him rising, a little to get his first view of the labs, his thoughts remaining where they had been on his father - the Texan who his mother had loved with all her heart and soul and that he was his father's flesh and blood.

His son and that he needed him with no one ever being able to fill his fathers place and that he loved his father with all his - little heart and soul as his brown eyes descended his thoughts giving way fully at that moment and that it was his mother alone.

Who was the strongest link to his father, as he now heard her gentle voice calling on him there gaze linking and becoming one in that moment. The Tahoe slowing at that one last time as they now entered the main public car park of the labs.

His brown eyes taking in at that the many vehicles there as his thoughts came fully to the present seeing the love and protection in his mother's gaze and that it needed no words between them as he gained strength from that look as she now found a space for them and it was not to far from the official entrance as she pulled the keys from the ignition sending him a smile at the same time.

As he gave her a serious look before falling suit - giving her a lopsided grin with her carefully unbuckling him at that moment as she now made ready coming round to his side of the vehicle. His brown eyes taking in all, he could visibly see at this height.

With the Tahoe passenger door opening his mother, watching him as he now jumped down to ground level. Standing at her knee height as she now carefully locked the Tahoe his gaze looking up at her, before going sky ward's to the Cherokee blue sky, as his brown eyes moved to look at the distant mountains that stood out against the skyline.

As he now looked closer to where the first lone star sparkled and to where the blue of the sky changed to an aurora of colour against those mountains the late October sun having just set leaving the horizon now a blood red against it as he stood there for a moment unwilling to move.

Looking at the streaks of light playing of each other and the lone star which sparkled brightly against those mountains as his gaze swung back at that moment to his mother as they stood together, his small hand reaching up at that moment linking them as the smaller hand in hers, now gave a gentle squeeze.

The boy at her side thinking the same as her as they for a moment more gazed out onto those mountains and that one star in the heavens above with the last light jetting from the horizon as she took a breath, her earlier tears melted as her gaze slid back to him…..

As she now felt the cool air beginning to descend as she began to make a move towards the main public entrance to the labs, seeing the insignia there at the entrance as the brown soft eyes followed hers to the same place.

Her son staying close beside her the small hand linking back through her own, as they now clambered up the many steps to the glass doors passing under the American flag as they did so.

Seeing the brown eyes light up at that moment as the first signs of visible life came into view the main entrance frantic as her dark eyes adjusted to the changing light, the hand in hers, tightening its grip at that moment.

As she now entered the building the boy beside her keeping pace with her as she came once more to a halt. Lifting him carefully at that moment, as he now gave his mother a hug, seeing her producing at that her CSI cards to the security.

His brown eyes enjoying the view as he looked around him finding him self again at adult height in his mother's arms, as they moved slowly from the foyer his gaze searching at that for any familiar faces.

He seen only, one as he swallowed the individual, not spotting them as his mother now turned changing direction letting him down to walk on the now tiled floor and that they were a little way yet from the main labs as he now ran ahead.

Hearing his mother's re-assuring voice once more telling him to slow down, with him for a moment paying no heed as his pace quickened before slowing letting her catch up on him.

With his hand linking once more through hers, as she now kept him in check as she glanced, briefly at the time on the wall clock which could be seen from here and that when they reached Grissom's office. It would be periodically the quietest time of day in these labs.

As her thoughts consolidated at that infrequency her gaze returning protectively and without thinking to the boy beside her and that they were being slowed again by the on coming traffic of lab technicians and others who were finishing there shift.

The hand in hers loosening, its grip at that moment with the occasional person also now greeting them both with the boy beside her, taking up most of the attention as she smiled gently letting him talk as the brown warm eyes returned lovingly that moment to hers.

His small hand coming back into hers as she seen for a moment that look of his father on him with her dark eyes closing once more at that thought - with his son, the boy who was of his flesh and blood and there child now taking the next step. Along the longer main stretch of corridor that would lead them to the lockers and Grissom's office with the main corridor branching out now on either side.

As they stuck to the main passageway the sounds of the labs now becoming more distinct as they turned a sharp right and then a left, the corridor widening at that moment the glass inter-tracing them on either side there reflections playing there as there pace now slowed.

Turning once more to there left onto an even vaster stretch of corridor as they now walked past what would have been in her working hours her first port of call and the opening section of there own part of the labs.



The lockers which were in half light - twilight on the right hand side of her and to what she could see from here, the only one other corridor which swung of this one, at its mid way point on the left.

With the height of the corridor above them now rising to its full magnitude, giving the vastness and scope which depicted these labs and all that they held, with her son stopping at that to take it all in and that they were now almost half way to where the corridor took its one turn.

Her dark eyes focusing there as she now lifted him, the brown soft eyes coming back to once more look into hers as she lovingly ruffled the short brown hair, receiving that smile of his at that moment.

As they now took the turn – two familiar figures of her colleagues coming into view as they now, at that moment lifted there heads in unison. To look there way and to the boy in her arms - as her gaze slide at that slowly between the two as her dark eyes tried in someway to read what was going on there…..

Between Gil Grissom and Warrick Brown with the latter of her two colleagues being unable to meet her gaze and that they stood just short of half way down that long corridor, which swung of to its sharp right after that.

With her gaze for a moment looking beyond them, to Gil's office which was at the end of the long corridor at that turn and that it was brightly light the office door open and to her other colleague who stood there just inside that office door – Catherine.

As she felt confusion spreading through her at that moment, as Catherine's blue eyes briefly met hers before falling, her gaze instead going to the boy in her arms as she now clutched him closer.

With him picking up on it sensing like her that something else was wrong as her dark intelligent eyes swung back at that to Grissom seeing the silent unquestioned message he was sending her in that gaze, as her dark eyes fell to what she could see in his hand.

Even from this distance the official file in his hand with Warrick know breaking away coming towards them seeing the seriousness of his gaze at that moment as she now gently let her son down keeping a hold of him as she did so.



* * *

The small hand linking back through hers as her dark eyes focused on the uncertainty and anxiety playing now in Warrick's features - as she looked again Gil's way and that he had not moved that he stood on the right hand side of corridor his gaze for now not on her.

That he was looking elsewhere to what was directly in front of him through the glass as she looked once more to the folder in his hand. Not quite making a connection as she did so as her gaze struck on him and to where he stood.

With it being the main area and one of the most important rooms in these labs for any CSI that he stood on the outside off. The meeting place and where every major or none major case were put up for discussion and that it was also the informal area.

Where every CSI was put through there paces and disciplined along with it and that it was where the heartache and vigour of what went with the job came through the lighter moments being shared there as well.

As they now took a step forward her pace sharpening with them getting no further than quarter way down the long corridor with Warrick, catching her eye again at that moment sending her a warning glance:

'Sara'

The tone alone emphasizing the look in his eyes as they came to a sharp halt , the small hand in hers giving a gentle squeeze as the brown soft eyes looked up into her, own confusion and fear showing in them.

As she now hushed him trying to soothe the anxiety playing in those brown eyes as her thoughts returned again to the one question he had asked her earlier her thoughts staying there thinking only of him and that Warrick had now broke the main distance between them.

Her dark eyes staying where they were as the brown eyes linked and became one with her own, her hand releasing from his to gently come up to his cheek, with this little boy at her side speaking solely to her.



His smile coming back to the fore and that it his attention was now diverting towards Warrick as she played along, letting Warrick do the talking the small hand linking back through her own at that moment, as she tried to read what was going on behind there.

Her colleague giving her nothing more though as there gaze came to meet as she now greeted him casually her gaze at that sliding back to her other two colleagues and that Catherine had remained where she was.

With Greg being no where in sight and that Grissom had walked a couple of paces further forward, past the room which he had been standing on the outside off and that his gaze was firmly set on them both.

The look making her more nervous as her roused suspicions folded deeper with that gaze and that Gil's concerned steal glare had switched away from her, to the boy at her foot who was now like her trying to draw what was really going on.

As she turned back to him, her hand going through the brown hair as she came down to his height, there gaze meeting at that moment, as the set features turned serious her own gaze doing the same.

Her words coming gently as there gaze stayed linked and though she was unsure of what was coming next this little boy was relying on her in every way possible as she carefully took of the denim jacket of his. Handing it to Warrick, there gaze for a second time meeting in that moment.

Before her dark eyes shifted back too where they had been with this little soul seeing what had passed between them in that moment and that he like her was not convinced or sure of what was taking place.

As her gaze swung instead to the right, to the room that ran directly parallel to Gil's office and to where Warrick would be taking him too for it was where the games console and any other item that was not strictly allowed in the labs found its home.

With it also in more recent years being the main over spill, from the room which Grissom had just moved along from as her thoughts fused there as the brown gentle eyes once more met hers seeing the love shining in them.



The small hand clutching hers in that moment as they swapped nervous glances and although Warrick had said no more, she could feel like the boy beside her, the awkward hesitance which was rarely ever seen in her colleague and that he was unable to look her in the eye.

Even know as her dark eyes rose to meet his as she glimpsed something else for a moment before her colleagues gaze quickly shifted again with Warrick taking this boy's hand, the other safely linked through hers.

Plus what they were both thinking as she looked her colleague's way for it was what was in the little boy's head – to try and make a run to Gil who stood a good part down the long corridor ahead of them and that it was the one thing that she could not let happen, her instincts following on that.

With Warrick's steady soft gaze backing her up and that she could now see the frustration appearing on the young strong set features for something that would usually, come second nature. The brown eyes now turning stubborn for a moment as she again spoke.

There gaze meeting, her tone firm but soft as she now gently kissed his forehead, getting that smile of his in response and that the brown intense eyes were now following her as she sent Warrick a silent message, letting go of the small hand at that moment.

The touch leaving his as he watched his mother turn, her pace slight Warrick lifting him his gaze for a moment switching away from his mother as he righted himself nestling deep into Warrick's shoulder blade as his brown eyes turned back at that and that he now had a birds eye view.

Warrick making no further move as he glimpsed his mother who was deep in talk with Grissom and that he could see she know held in her hand the folder that Gil had been carrying. His brown eyes puzzling over that as his gaze for a moment went beyond his mother and Grissom.

Sensing that someone else was watching him and that it was Catherine as he swallowed his gaze diverting back to his mother there gaze linking into one Matawan and that he could see even from the long distance that now separated them.

That there were tears in her dark starlight eyes and that she was upset as Warrick now moved giving him little chance to read anything further as his brown eyes remained there and that something else had flickered in his mother's dark starlight eyes.



Something that desperately made him want to go to her - and that he knew what else lay in that look. That she was also trying to protect him from something. With whatever was going down on that corridor involving him in some way and that she could no longer look him in the eye…..

…As he held back his own tears at that moment his hand reaching out to empty space in a silent gesture. His mother now looking again through the glass next to her with the dark starlight eyes turning slowly back to him and that she now stood alone. ….

Gil heading towards his office - and Catherine who still stood there as he caught the last glimpse of his mother whose gaze was still on him with the look going straight to his little heart.

Before her head turned - her gaze returning to where it had been with Warrick now closing the door and that there was no other visible view out onto that lightened hallway with the closed blinds, covering the glass as they usually did in this one room. As now he took a slow breath.

With only the thin ream of glass at the old style door frame offering any real view as he now found him self gently being put back at ground level and that Warrick now stood between him and that closed door.

His brown eyes measuring the distance to there - and how much further it was to his mother on the other side of that door as he looked at her blurred view through the glass at the frame and that she had not moved yet and this was the room he had been in just the other day with Warrick.

The games console being the main attraction as he looked around him, taking in everything else as he now took one of the controls and that he was under Warrick's careful gaze with them now sitting side by side the game starting up at that moment.

As he looked Warrick's way and that like him his gaze was returning to the closed door at regular intervals. His warm brown eyes taking in the worried frown that had settled across Warrick's features and that anytime his gaze went his way there was an added tension there.

Something which he had not missed as he now stormed, the first game and the rap-our which was his competitors defining characteristic was no where in site either as his puzzled gaze for a second time returned to Warrick.



His thoughts delving inwards at that moment and to the look which had also been in his mother's dark starlight eyes - a look he had never seen before - and that it pulled his very heart to beyond breaking point and that he was unable to reach her at this moment.

With Warrick's soft tone instead reaching across to him as he played into it, his thoughts staying where they were though thinking only of his mother, the individual who was the centre of his world and that something more was wrong.

As his brown eyes focused on the console, his gaze moving from there to the door and though Warrick stood between him and that door, he knew his little legs had the speed and agility to outrun his opponent as long as he had a head start.

His features turning to a serious frown at that moment as he bit his lower lip deep in thought and that there had been something else in his mothers gaze, something he was unable to read and that it wrenched his very soul as he know gave the games console a stubborn look.

Warrick not missing the look either as he again spoke softly - and that he was not listening to him either, that he was thinking only about what had just taken place out in that corridor to the look which had been in his mothers starlight eyes and that he was now patiently bidding his time.

For the opportune moment to when he could make an escape from this room, to be at his mother side - as his gaze once more found itself back at that narrow slit of glass and that he could no longer see her……

His brown eyes shifting back at that to Warrick answering him as he did so and to the one other thing that was keeping him here and was also confusing him at the same time, the inner tension and shear worry that was now mounting steadily on Warrick's features and that he was unable to cover it.

With that alone telling him something - as his ever increasing confused thoughts went into free fall his mind only half on the game which he was trying to play and though he was a little unsure of what door his mother had went through.

He had a rough enough idea as he thought only of her his brown warm eyes searching again that now empty corridor for her as the ache that entrenched his little heart found new depth and for all his small number of years. He was in no doubt she needed him at this moment…..

* * *

Her gaze stayed where it had been, her hand lightly touching the handle of the door as she stood for a moment more, in this bright lit corridor her breath slow and that the individual and person who was on the opposite side of that glass.

Was completely unaware of her gaze, as her dark starlight eyes slid at that to the official folder that she now gripped tightly in her left hand her dark eyes closing and the words Gil had just informed her off moments before.

As her dark eyes sprang open at that thought and that the man she loved, whose heart and soul was one with hers was indeed alive with the investigation in his name, once more wide open as she thought only of his family in Dallas.

To how much this meant to them and to his one brother with the information what Grissom had briefly fed her being to much to take in - and that he was no longer missing - as she looked again at the lone figure through the glass.

Her gaze focusing there on that vulnerable soul as her dark intelligent eyes slowly moved from him to further down that long corridor, to the door shut by Warrick as her dark eyes rested there for a long moment.

To the boy who was his son - and there flesh and blood - as her gaze fell at that on that lost soul, her dark eyes closing as she held back tears for the man who she loved with all her heart and soul with the hard evidence what they now held residing here in Las Vegas.

As her dark eyes lifted her gaze falling with despair on him as she grasped the handle and of what else she had been told - the irreparable damage done - as her gaze strung on him, with what she could in no way accept, tiding her as her grip tightened on the handle and that the Texan needed her…..

Her dark eyes resting once more there as her gaze swung to the folder in her hand and to the one other unknown precipice that was adjoined to it - that whoever was responsible for this was still out there - as she breathed the air, pushing those further thoughts away.



Concentrating only on what was before her as her gaze flickered and became one tracing his lean form through the glass and that he was sitting at the main table of that room his back to her as she thought again of the boy who was his…...

With him at this moment being unable to see her that he was facing the other direction and the guilt which had been hers and hers alone - finding a deeper crevice at that moment, as she now slowly opened the door letting it shut quietly behind her as she stood where she was.

Her heart missing a beat and that he had in no way heard her:

The head remaining bowed as she slowly and carefully took in every inch of him as she listened also to the familiar sounds of this room the constant drone of the fridge and the microwave which were on the right hand side in the less formal area and to the one other uncharacteristic but recognisable sound.

Her thought's homing into the audible sound at she now focused on the dishevelled figure in front of her and although she was unable to see the handsome features the last doubts that it was not him had been cancelled out.

With her heart, which was his and his alone - reading the silently still form in front of her, the demeanour in itself completely unrecognisable to the once strong vulnerable man she had known. As she now tentatively drew forward keeping herself at more than arms length from him…

As she took to the left drawing slowly past him and that he had in no way registered her as her dark eyes now rose reading every detail there as she held back the cry from her heart that yielded unbroken:

Seeing instead only the nervousness of his manner, the leanness of him, the brown short rugged and staggered hair - and the familiar sound which had filled the air for a brief moment had stopped.

The right hand now hesitantly rising, touching what was in front of him on the table as her gaze went with his to the fountain pen before him seeing it now slowly rotate on the table - the sound clearly distinct - and that it was what she had been listening too as she now watched the fountain pen come again to a stop….



As she watched at that, the right hand slowly lift once more, the movements uncertain and to what else was, there her dark eye's focusing in on it for it was what she had missed the first time - the silver ring on the middle finger of the right hand and that it was what had helped find him…..

Her heart giving way at that moment and that he was concentrating only on the fountain pen alone – and that he was completely unaware off her presence - or anything else in the room, with what was taking up his attention being something from Catherine.

Seeing its movement now slow as she moved a pace closer taking in the loose green checked shirt and the faded jeans and that they in there own way only added to what she was aware of the intense internal damage done - and that it was both physically and mentally.

As she shut those thoughts of not wanting to go there her emotions beginning to break as she placed the official folder in his name on the table, the fountain pen now slowing at a faster pace as the head now slowly rose.

The handsome set features for the first time coming into her view at that moment as the brown intense eyes for a second found hers and that it was – Nick Stokes the look alone verifying that.

As the gaze now quickly departed from hers, as her dark eyes now penetrated the deep scar on the left temple and that the brown staggered hair was unable to cover it as her gaze looked further. To the paleness of the features and that there was, a few more lines across those handsome set features.

With it not being that which shook her most as the left hand now rose, the gait growing in nervousness as he now under her gaze lifted the fountain pen, there gaze meeting completely in that moment and that the features were taunt and translucent.

The handsome features etched, the cheeks hollow, the square jaw line defined, the jaw bone abstract with the attire emphasising the lean thinness of him and that the once strong muscles were fragmented - as her dark eyes slid to the left wrist and that the sleeve had moved a little.

Her gaze adjusting at that seeing the scar there on that left wrist and that it had been deep with there also being no watch upon that wrist either as her thoughts merged her dark eyes rising at that moment, to once more meet his.



Seeing also the slight stubble that still remained across the set jaw line and that he had been cleaned up a little with what he had been put through in Dallas and here - now telling painfully in those brown eyes.

That were sunken and lifeless, the light which shone in them - dim and unaware her gaze unable to move and that the soul before her now was broken as the brown warm eyes stayed where they were, a different sound filling the air between them and that he in no way recognised her….

The fountain pen falling sharply from his grasp at that moment the sound tingeing the air as he slowly drew in at that the single woman. Who stood before him now and that he had been unaware of her presence or even sure of how long she had been standing there.

With her being of his age and height, the long brunette mane of hair falling to almost shoulder length, her gentle features sheltered by it as his brown eyes, drank in her rare beauty and that it was something entirely different from the red head's who had brought him all the way here.

As he for a moment looked deep into those dark starlight intelligent eyes his gaze moving quickly at that of hers his heart galloping for a second and that he was unable too look her in the eye either with the casual elegant clothing she wore only helping to illuminate her lithe form to him.

His gaze shifting slowly at that from the snug jeans, to the open suede jacket, too the white traditional top below and that it mirrored the paleness of her milky skin, with the top gently revealing a little of her cleavage as his heart missed a beat and that it was not only that.

For it was the dark eyes that rested gently on his and that he could see at this moment and even from the vast distance that she stood from him. The beat of her heart under the full breast and that like the red head also. She looked to be the independent type and that in those dark eyes that were, aflame there was something else -

A fragility that he had never seen before a spirit that was as wild and free as those mountains as he lost himself there. His thoughts trying at the same time to detect what else was going on behind there and that he could not keep his gaze on her for long.



With her in every way being out of his league as his nervousness grew, his hand automatically reaching for the fountain pen at that moment and that she was the most gorgeous thing he had ever laid eyes upon…..

His hand tightening its grip of the fountain pen at that as he tried to now manoeuvre his gaze off hers - and that he had been alone in this room for a little time, with the red heads husband a man who had been his once boss and colleague.

Talking to him for a short time, with the air of authority what had struck him about Catherine's husband in the first place only putting him further on edge and that it had been then at that point that Catherine had intervened.

When it had been getting too much for him and that he had in no way remembered him either with the red head easing the air and that he had seen for it was what Gil Grissom had been unable to cover.

The same pain and concern that had been in his wife's eyes and that before they had left, he had seen something had passed between them and that he had been the cause of it.

With that thought now remaining as he looked once more to this brunette, trying to detect again what was in that gaze and though he in no way knew her. She had not addressed herself either.

The awkwardness growing as she now hesitantly nods this way. Trying her hardest to wield my attention as my gaze wavers unsurely and nervously under hers something else now un-expendably hitting my worn out concentration.

As I hear a sound from behind me, the door into this meeting room that the brunette, could only have entered from as I like her follow my gaze to the sound. Seeing the ease at which the child now enters the room.

The fountain pen remaining in my own hand as I look slowly take him in, knowing instantly that I am looking now at mother and son the strong features uncannily alike and at a rough estimate.

He is no more than four or five with him running with agility to her side as our eyes again meet. With the dark starlight, eyes now diverting quickly of my own as I nervously look between them.

The boy giving me a puzzled look in return as he now looks to his mother. The independent woman across from me remaining, where she is as I draw a slow breath unsure of what I am missing her beauty blinding me.

As I attentively look to her hand finding no wedding band their either as I touch the scar on my left temple swivelling the fountain pen again without thinking the boy watching my every move as I see the fear, pain and confusion in his young eyes.

Eyes that are a different colour from hers as my emotions wield in something unfamiliar and daunting, as I look from the boys warm features to that of his mother the dark starlight eyes reading my own instinctively.

As I slowly find what little confidence, I do have and that more importantly I want to hear the sound of this woman's voice as I at last, find something to say to her and what is there hidden in the depths of those dark eyes even though she is a stranger to me.

Guilt and pain that I can in no way, understand as her gaze for a second times drops from my own. As I now speak, her arms wrapping protectively round the little boy who seems unfathomably somehow familiar to me:

"Ma'am what's his name?"

_The nervous_ Texan tone crossing the distance between us the brown unfocused eyes remaining stagnant and it is the question, which loosens the tidal wave within, as a stray tear falls freely from my own cheek.

With the small hand linked in mines tightening its grip as I gaze to the stranger before me the Texan who is this little boy's father as I reply in the only answer that forms:

"Nicky"

The name drifting across as I gaze uncertainly between them the dark starlight eyes clear after her tears as I glance at her delicate features hesitantly know dropping my own eyes.

With it being the name that the redhead had used to first address me back in Dallas as my head lifts in slight understanding the, dark eyes cascading as the brunette, finishes what my thoughts are only now beginning to thread:

"After his father Nick"

Her words now ending and she is talking solely to me as our gaze for the first time merges to one, the fountain pen falling from my hand at that. With it being too much to comprehend.

As I hesitantly stand backing away from them both in the same moment not wanting to believe what she has just said. The chair falling behind me with the fountain pen remaining on the table and I have without meaning too frightened them both.



The brunette taking, a step back the boy doing the same as she now watches me with it all being too much my thoughts spiralling uncontrollably and I cannot remember her even though I know I should.

With it being like the redhead as I backup even further remaining facing them as I see the fear in her eye grow, a tear running down the little boys cheek as I stammer the only words I feel at this precise moment:

"I don't belong here."

The independent woman flinching to that as I make it to the door turning at that moment as her soft gentle tone reaches out speaking solely to me:

"Nicky"

With it not halting me as I hear the door click shut behind me escape being my only operative and thought. As I make it, two steps further forward before coming to a dead halt.

Uncertainty and not knowing anything of where I stand being part of the reason with it being something else that has halted my, flee as I now slowly swivel back round to face the room I just came out off.

My brown eyes remaining on the tiled floor as I step back feeling a cold sweat as my head turns undecidedly to the left on this long sweeping corridor seeing at its end before the corridor sweeps of to its right.

The redhead and her husband in an office the door open to him, with them both fearfully gazing this way as I look once more to the woman who had brought me here.

My thoughts looping trying to scrape the fear away and I am completely alone in this long bright lit, corridor as my head returns slowly to its lowered position the, tiled floor becoming blurred for a second.

As I hit the glass behind me leaning my full weight on it the slump of my shoulders resisting the agony that now claws from my left temple. As my brown eyes slowly rise to look directly at the room, I have just left.

Seeing the pretty brunette and her child, her rare beauty etching me as I hold back a cry of pain my shoulders rising instantly from their slump seeing my own reflection of the glass as I continue to gaze into those dark starlight eyes.

Surrendering myself to them the look sending me free falling and I am unbound by it love and pain shining unrequited in them as my own sharp reflection hits home 

hardly knowing myself, as my own jumbled memories now re-collide none of them making sense either.

As I glance, again to my left knowing for the first time the two individuals who are, caringly watching from that open office door as I give a puzzled look to something that redhead had told me.

With my brown eyes magnetically now reaching for home taking, a clear breath as though I have hit the surface after a long time under memories of a different sort now flooding me as a hint of a full smile now hits those delicate features that have always so mesmerised me.

As I loose, myself in those dark starlight cascading eyes looking slowly again to the boy at her foot with what I feel for her being beyond anything on this earth as something now catches out the corner of my right eye something that tears my own gaze gut wrenchingly from the woman, who I love with all my heart and soul….

With a vaguely familiar, face standing at the end of the corridor watching me with it now happening in slow motion as I see the gun rising towards me my brown eyes returning to where they had been fear and shattered memories engulfing me and that in every way possible my life is hanging by a moment…..

TO BE CONTINUED

& the next chapter is HANGING BY A MOMENT….


	9. Hanging by a Moment

HANGING BY A MOMENT

Chapter Nine:

_Hanging by a Moment_

By

Jen

The awkwardness growing as she now hesitantly nods this way. Trying her hardest to wield my attention as my gaze wavers unsurely and nervously under hers something else now un-expendably hitting my worn out concentration.

As I hear a sound from behind me - the door - into this meeting room that the brunette could only have entered from. As I like her follow my gaze to the sound. Seeing the ease at which the child now enters the room.

The fountain pen remaining, in my own hand as I look slowly taking him in. Knowing instantly that I am looking now at mother and son the strong features uncannily alike and at a rough estimate.

He is no more than four or five with him running agility to her side as our eyes again meet. With the dark starlight eyes now diverting quickly of my own as I nervously look between them the boy giving me a puzzled look in return.

As he now looks to his mother the independent woman across from me remaining where she is as I draw a slow breath, unsure of what I am missing. Her beauty blinding me as I attentively look to her hand finding no wedding band there either as I touch the scar on my left temple.

Swivelling the fountain pen again, without thinking the boy watching my every move as I see the fear, pain and confusion in his young eyes; eyes that are a different colour from hers as my emotions wield in something unfamiliar and daunting.

As I look from the boys warm features to that of his mother the dark starlight eyes reading my own instinctively. As I slowly find what little confidence I do have and that more importantly. I want to hear the sound of this woman's voice. As I at last find something to say to her and what is there hidden in the depths of those dark eyes even though she is a stranger to me.

Guilt and pain that I can in no way, understand as her gaze for a second times drops from my own. As I now speak her arms wrapping protectively round the little boy who seems unfathomably somehow familiar to me:

"Ma'am what's his name?"

_The nervous _Texan tone crossing the distance between us the brown unfocused eyes remaining stagnant and it is the question, which loosens the tidal wave within, as a stray tear falls freely from my own cheek.

With the small hand linked in mines tightening its grip as I gaze to the stranger before me the Texan who is this little boy's father as I reply in the only answer that forms:

"Nicky"

The name drifting across as I gaze uncertainly between them the dark starlight eyes clear after her tears as I glance at her delicate features hesitantly know dropping my own eyes. With it being the name that the redhead had used to first address me back in Dallas.

As my head lifts in slight understanding the, dark eyes cascading as the brunette finishes what my thoughts are only just beginning to thread:

"After his father Nick"

Her words now ending and she is talking solely to me. As our gaze for the first time merges to one - the fountain pen falling from my hand - at that with it being too much to comprehend. As I hesitantly stand backing away from them both in the same moment.

Not wanting to believe what she has just said. The chair falling behind me with the fountain pen remaining on the table and without meaning too I have frightened them both the brunette taking a step back the boy doing the same.

As she now watches me with it all being too much my thoughts spiralling uncontrollably and I cannot remember her even though I know I should. With it being like the redhead as I backup even further remaining facing them as I see the fear in her eye grow a tear running down the little boys cheek as I stammer.

The only words I feel at this precise moment:

"I don't belong here."

The independent woman flinching to my own words as I make it to the door turning at that moment as her soft gentle tone reaches out speaking solely to me:

"Nicky"

With it not halting me as I hear the door click shut behind me.

Escape being my only operative and thought. As I make it two steps further forward before coming to a dead halt. Uncertainty and not knowing anything of where I stand being part of the reason with it being something else deeper - that has halted, my flee - as I now slowly swivel back round.

To face the room I just came out off. My brown eyes remaining on the tiled floor as I step back. Feeling a cold sweat as my head turns undecidedly to the left on this long sweeping corridor seeing at its end before the corridor sweeps of to its right.

The redhead and her husband in an office the door open into that office. With them both fearfully gazing this way - as I look again to the woman who brought me here first my thought's looping.

Trying to scrape the fear away and I am completely alone in this long bright lit corridor. As my head returns slowly to its lowered position the tiled floor becoming blurred for a second. As I hit the glass behind me.

Leaning my full weight on it the slump of my shoulders resisting the agony that now claws from my left temple. As my brown eyes slowly rise to look directly at the room, I have just left seeing the pretty brunette and her child.

Her rare beauty etching me - as I hold back a cry of pain my shoulders rising instantly from their slump seeing my own reflection of the glass as I continue to gaze for a long moment into those dark starlight eyes.

Surrendering myself to them the look sending me free falling… and I am unbound by it love and pain shining unrequited in them. With my own sharp reflection hitting home hardly knowing my-self as my memories now re-collide none of them making any sense either.

As I glance again to my left knowing for the first time. The two individuals who are caringly watching from that open office door as I give a puzzled look to something the redhead had told me.

With my brown, eyes magnetically now reaching for home…. taking a clear breath as though I have hit the surface after a long time under memories of a different sort now flooding me - a hint of a full smile now hitting those delicate features that have always so mesmerised me.

As I lose myself in those dark cascading eyes looking slowly again to the boy at her foot with what I feel for her being beyond anything on this earth as something catches out the corner of my right eye something that gut wrenchingly tears my own gaze from the woman: -

Who I love with all my heart and soul….

With a vaguely familiar face standing at the end of the corridor watching me. With it happening in slow motion as I see the gun rising. My brown eyes returning to where they had been fear and shattered memories engulfing me and in every way possible my life is hanging by a moment…..

_Feeling the cold sweat drain_ from me Sara Sidle's firelight gaze resting tenderly as I for a moment blank out the immediate danger. Instead touching my left wrist finding only an old scar with what I am looking for not being there: -

As my memories now tumble incoherently together and it is not helping any….

Drawing another unsteady breath, as I regain the foothold I am clinging desperately too my rugged attire not fitting these surroundings either. As something sinks deep within at this moment that it has been a long time since I have stood where I am standing now: -

My brown eyes beginning to focus…

The throbbing from my left temple growing to a new sphere as the cry that I have held back unwarranted finely breaks free. Ringing out round the vast emptiness of this quite corridor my eyes darting infrequently to the figure standing a number of yards from me on the right and they have made no further move.

Instead only making the most of it as I, straddle the cliff of my own inner memories. Finding only sanctuary in the dark starlight eyes which are directly across from me through the bullet proof glass as the intelligent gaze alights to a deeper fire within those dark spheres.

Her gaze leading me to quite pastures of rest as the love in them ignites sending me into free fall once more as our gaze entwines to one… lightly touching as I do so the silver of the ring on the middle finger of my right hand.

As I now fight the wave of emotions that cascade - with the love in Sara's dark starlight eyes holding me. With what I can and cannot remember being intermediate at this moment as I make sense of at least part of it.

What drove me back to the only other place I could call home - Dallas - as I swallow piercing what else I am unable to comprehend the pieces that as of yet I cannot place or put precisely with this figure standing of to my right being the indirect cause of it.

My certainty of that final and though the memory of it is somehow gone it stokes a fear like no other. As I grasp the only lifeline that can now save me those dark eyes that soar with love and understanding.

As I for a second time in a matter of seconds bypass the immediate danger. To look at the green checked shirt and faded jeans. Screwing my features up at how holly unsuited they are to these surroundings along with the unkempt staggered brown hair.

That is partially covering the scar on my left temple. As I note indiscriminately that I am more than a little worse for-ware. As I register that the woman through the glass. Is even more beautiful than I can remember and along with the child at her foot.

The brunette mane of hair is a little shorter than I remember it. As our gaze merges to one at that moment the look in those dark pools sending me - to the stars above and those Rocky Mountains not too far from here - with those dark eyes forever leading me my heart and soul unbound as I now feel my every heart beat….

With those dark eyes that draw me like no other, now transferring an entirely different message beyond the love in them and that she has read my every thought….

As the dark starlight eyes of Sara Sidle reach out solely to me…

…_the brown intense eyes merging in understanding and love the glazed look now gone from them entirely. As the intense gaze re-forges – the brown still depths opening fully to reveal the heart which is his alone. With the love - unique and immeasurable - shining clear and true from that intense gaze. As the five year old at my foot the child who is of both our flesh and blood and his son._

_Now moves towards his father…._

With those same brown intense eyes that are not mine. Now coming level with my own - Sara Sidle's - voice breaking across to us both in the same moment. With the boy whose resemblance to her I cannot shake my gaze remaining instinctively and protectively on him.

The boy now coming to an uncertain halt just outside the door I have just came out off and he too has sensed that other figure still standing there the gun now switching between us as those brown warm eyes that are the same shade as my own: -

Respond in loving fearful, understanding and that he is my son….

With him now falling back protectively into his mother's arms as my brown eyes stay put. Love for them finding a whole new level. As those dark pools again look this way as I hear the cold hard metallic deadly sound of a trigger being pulled back: -

As my emotions, memories and feelings re-collide to one sure certainty.…

That the figure holding that gun - who has always hated me- and who is now right at this moment is about to finish what he once started. As my brown eyes slowly tear away from the woman and child I love.

Glimpsing Gil and Catherine in that office once more as the gun aimed towards me becomes a certain hit…

*

_Gil Grissom's gaze lifted slowly away from the black watch_. The red-head's doing the same as the woman his wife now spoke her thoughts merging with his:

"Nicky."

With it being the lone figure who stood in that empty corridor that their concern and worry was aimed at. The look in those brown eyes still the same with the Texan having come to a halt just outside the room he has just left.

His gaze coming this way for a moment the look glazed and unreadable as the strong woman beside me again mutters something beyond my hearing. As my own eye focuses on the one other thing left of this investigation.

The watch which had stopped that belonged to Nick by right. As my steal gaze again rises to the forlorn vulnerable form who has made no further move with him having turned back to face that all important meeting room. The handsome Texan features at this moment hidden from our view the shoulders slumped.

With the head turning momentarily this way, the brown eyes having changed in sphere as the gaze lingers. The Texans head again bowing as if deep in thought. As the brown warm eyes move back to where they had been….

The handsome features becoming steadily paler as the gaze swings back this way. The brown eyes for the first time shining clear. Fresh unbinding hope flooding through me as the look turns to one of clear puzzlement as my own thoughts hit home base.

Seeing the Texan of long before standing there once more the brown intense gaze backing that up and that it is indeed Nick Stokes. The CSI who I had mistreated who I have come to look upon in the years which have past as a blood son with him even now remaining unaware of that thought….

….As I see another less than friendly face now step into that corridor the Texan barely managing to stay standing. As it is at this moment with a gun now lifting swiftly from that other individual as my thoughts now shatter completely….

The last pieces of the puzzle falling terrifying into place fresh unrequited fear engulfing me as I remember another time and place the feeling of powerlessness then:

With my eye picking up on a smaller figure the young Nicky Stokes coming into view and the underlying look between father and son. As the boy now steps back under his father's gaze the look of love and understanding.

As the vulnerable figure in that corridor again sends a look this way the message clear…as what clutches my heart. Now strengthens its hold and that we are spectator's only. To what is happening out there in that corridor as the gun steadies, Catherine's touch on my shoulder turning into a death grip. As I hear her now speak her words echoing out:

"God no."

With that view the one the red-head my wife shares now getting cut off with yet another individual entering the frame. Rounding the corner onto this corridor from this side and it's a much younger colleague. Another who in his own way I have come to look upon as a son.

As my gaze strikes past him - to the Texan and Conrad Ecklie - the trigger even from this far distance being pulled back….

*

_Greg Sanders_ rounded the corner his gaze lifting to look at the long quite stretch of corridor in front of him Gil Grissom's office directly behind to his own right - as he glinted for a second that way seeing Catherine there too.

As his thoughts merged quickly to one and what was all wrong too what he could see. Directly in front of him to his left. Forcing him to swallow hard while at it the documented folder the case-file in his own hand. What holds my past colleagues name and who himself. Now stands some feet down the long corridor in front of me.

With the paperwork falling abruptly to the floor the sound not registering as my gaze readjusts coherently. Seeing who stands behind Nick Stokes with the brown eyes of my once colleague and friend still looking this way.

The brown depths of the Texans eyes recognising me clearly and it is, the Nick Stokes that I know. Who is now standing there at this moment with my long ago thoughts that the individual responsible was someone this team themselves might also know: -

Also bearing truth as his hazel eyes moved to Ecklie reaching for my own holstered weapon. The light in the corridor encompassing the scene my years of experience out on the field coming to the fore as my thoughts fold to one. To the man I looked upon as an older brother….

Who had been missing only to now be found alive Nick's son being the epitaph of that and through that little boy. Not one of us had ever given up hope of ever finding him alive as my hazel eyes ground beyond these labs and to what is happening directly in front of me.

To what the dual layer of bulletproof glass is furthermore reflecting back into my line of vision in this half twilight. The Rocky Mountains that can be seen from this part of the labs beyond this tiled corridor as my breath catches to all Grissom and Catherine have taught me along with Sara and Warrick.

With my lesser years counting as the danger and vulnerability of the prone lone figure before me hits home. Plus at this moment I am unable to see Sara Sidle, her son who is of this Texans blood or Warrick Brown either deeper instinct telling me though they are all within the very near vicinity…

As my hazel eyes focus completely taking aim while at it as I glimpse for a moment too the look in the Texan's brown soft eyes. Seeing pain, fear and understanding in those depths that realize me for who I am.

The thought hanging their as I shift my emotions pulling back the trigger aware of the file and sheets of important documentation at my foot….with a friend and comrade's life hanging by a thread. Only that it is now happening directly in front of me and I am the only individual who can do anything about it.

As my hazel lighten my thoughts merging completely: -

Firing now with certainty the bullet seeming to take forever though it is barely a second which has past. My eye watching the bullets flawless passage with Conrad Ecklie's weapon firing almost in unison too, my own and I have only staved him.

His shot ricocheting badly of the defenceless Texan as I see Nicholas Stokes fall back hitting the bullet proof glass behind him blood seeping superficially. From his right temple even from this far distance as the Texan slumps to the floor.

Hearing a child's heartfelt cry in that same moment with the five year old who is Nick's own son now stepping clearly into view. Another figure now drawing him back, quickly from the bloodshed my hazel eyes instinctively knowing it is Sara.

My gaze locking hold with Ecklie's feeling at that moment Catherine and Grissom's growing terror behind me. Conrad Ecklie's cold calculative eye follows mines to the Texan whose gaze is on Sara and the little boy at her foot….

…As I take aim for a second time realizing that I have hesitated for a moment too long. The gun swinging from Nick to point directly this way Ecklie firing spontaneously the moments of my own life now crystallizing through every atom of my body…

The bullet hitting at break neck speed pain searing from my chest the gun falling from my own hand to the official file at my foot, as my eyes slowly close. A cry echoing from my lips as the world around me drifts into darkness and eternity…..

*

The gut wrenching sound puncturing the still air my brown eyes closing as I hear the death cry echoing round this corridor. As I now slowly open them ignoring the dark starlight eyes and brown soft ones that are looking my way. Instead looking to my left to the pool of blood and the friend who lies motionless there…

My breath staggering in pain as I lift my head feeling the blood trickling slowly down my right temple my lost memories finding a new alcove. As I look straight forward to the woman and child standing a little in front of me. The dark starlight eyes, sending me free-falling the love in them cascading, her gentle feature's mesmerizing me, as the palm of my hand touches the cool tile below.

Feeling my every heart beat as my brown eyes turn for a moment directly to Catherine and Grissom before switching back and that I sit. At the boy before me's height as I hear a clear click of a trigger.

Ecklie finding my own gaze in that moment and it has come down to this. With it happening in front of all the individuals I care about my life hanging by a moment in time. With there being no comeback my brown eyes shifting to the woman I love with all my heart and soul….

…As my warm eyes drift now shift past Sara and the boy at her foot looking Conrad Ecklie in the eye as the gun takes aim for my own heart. Not stopping him as I feel the taste of blood in my own mouth from the ricocheted shot.

My gaze falling to the ring on the middle finger of my right hand before looking to the boy before me, as I feel each passing moment the strands of my life merging to one whole as my brown eyes close my head falling back the strands of my brown hair touching the old scar on my left temple.

Thinking of only one individual the woman who I love, whose heart and soul is one with mines as my brown eyes open. The image before me different from before as my head turns. Time slowing as the gun stays aimed on me my cry merging with the sound of a bullet…..

TO BE CONTINUED…


	10. How Far We've Come

Hanging by a Moment

Chapter Ten

Everything Old Is New Again… a.k.a How Far We've Come.

My breath staggering in pain as I lift my head feeling the blood trickling slowly down my right temple my lost memories finding a new alcove. As I look forward to the woman and child standing a little in front of me the dark starlight eyes, sending me free falling the love in them cascading.

Her gentle feature's mesmerizing me, as the palm of my hand touches the cool tile below feeling my every heart beat as my brown eyes turn. For a moment directly to Catherine and Grissom before switching back and I sit at the exact same height as the five year old whose brown eyes are fixed on mines.

As I hear a clear click of a trigger. Ecklie finding my own gaze in that moment and it has come down to this. With it happening in front of all the individuals I care most about my life hanging by a moment in time: -

With there being no comeback my brown eyes shifting to the woman I love with all my heart and soul….

…As my warm eyes drift now, shifting past Sara and the boy at her foot looking Conrad Ecklie in the eye. As the gun takes aim for my own heart and I am unable to stop him as I feel the taste of blood in my mouth from the ricocheted shot.

My gaze falling to the ring on the middle finger of my right hand what belonged to my grandfather before me as I look with love to the boy before me. As I feel each passing moment the strands of my life merging to one whole.

As my brown eyes close my head falling back the strands of my brown hair touching the old scar on my left temple. Thinking of only one individual the woman who I love whose heart and soul is one with mines as my brown eyes open.

The image before me different from before as my head turns. Time slowing as the gun stays aimed on me my cry merging with the sound of a bullet….

As my brown eyes soften love like no other enveloping them with Sara standing directly before me in this long corridor - cutting of the view of Ecklie. As my cry hammers to a new pitch my hand lifting of the cold tilled floor to reach for hers.

Rising as I do so my touch finding hers at that moment as my hand slowly and delicately circles the smaller one. Feeling it respond our hands now entwined to one. As the head turns the dark starlight eyes merging with mines as my own the hand tightens its grip as I fall back losing my inconsistent balance along with it.

Sara's weight shifting along with mines my other hand wrapping protectively round the slender waist as the dark eyes continue to look into mine. My brown eyes getting lost their as I feel the brunt force hitting the tiled floor beneath me. The body next to mines hanging on protectively as I hold her closer my back reflexively relaxing on the tiled floor beneath

Our thoughts one in that moment as a tear runs slowly down those gentle features my left hand rising to caress that cheek pushing a brunette braid of hair back as my hand stays put. The smaller one linking back through mines as a stray thought now penetrates.

That neither of us have been shot nor even marked by a bullet. With it only being the easy weight of the lithe body lying protectively on mines that is holding any sway. As my next thought is stopped mid-way. The moment coming as one as our lips meet, a new force passing through my body.

Love like no other anchoring itself there as I melt into it, Sara pulling away first leaving only yearning as I bite my lower lip. Her other hand remaining where it had been as mines moves to meet hers.

_As the strong gentle hand interlinks _back through my own the brown intense pools soaring to deeper depths as my free hand comes to its earlier resting place. To the beating heart and the checked shirt grabbed open upon our falling to reveal the chest below as my head burrows deeper into that shoulder blade.

The shirt looking even worse for-ware now as my head lifts the handsome features shifting a lopsided grin this way, the Texan accent drifting soft across to me and the fact, which has not escaped him:

"I guess I'm a little late for work?"

With the brown depths shining the set features producing a golden smile with all around us for a moment depleting my heart giving way with that look as our lips meet tenderly. Love cascading as I slowly and carefully withdraw not want the moment to end as I reply coyly:

"A change of shirt would not go to badly either partner."

My next words getting stopped my smile broadening as I fall into the kiss, my eyes closing as it finds new depths with Nick without warning pulling away fresh fear now penetrating those pools our thoughts now merging completely in a different angle.

Hanging by a moment in that thought as both our eyes move in tandem Sara's weight shifting a little: -

To give me a better view, one that even upside down shows bloodshed. Ecklie lying face down in a pool of blood some feet from us the gun still in his hand as I register who stands directly behind him at the open door.

Warrick Brown his weapon still, smouldering with the speed of that one shot. As he stands now leaning heavily on the doorframe our gaze meeting in old friendship and recognition Warrick now carefully, holstering his weapon as he without a word nods to us both. Something from way back remaining in his eyes even though I have no further clue to what it is.

With Warrick reading my thoughts as his voice drifts across to us both:

"I believe I owed you one big time Nick Stokes."

As like Sara I watch him lean over the dead body of Ecklie a shudder running through me Warrick seeing it too as he finishes his statement:

"That was way too close a shave old friend and you actually recognise me now Nicky."

The words causing a minor groan on my part the woman beside me digging me in the ribs while at it. With what happened a little before coming out onto this corridor seeming to now be under in-permeable ice.

Confusion again rattling my thoughts as I regain focus, remembering now seeing Greg, Warrick and Grissom earlier in this same corridor with it feeling now too distant a memory. As Sara's touch now tightens my thoughts completely changing sphere, as a smaller figure now cuts into view.

The dark eyes once more sparkling. The look touching my soul as I hear her voice calling to him Sara's touch remaining on my shoulder as I sit up beside her. The brunette now standing her spirit entrenching me as I gently place my hand to the one on my shoulder with getting up remaining to risky.

My balance not what, it should be. As I stubbornly relent feeling the blood running from my temple. As I look to the boy who stands directly before me Sara by his side. With him not coming any closer his brown eyes resting on me. As Sara moves forward kissing my forehead as our hands link.

Love surging through me as I become aware of Grissom and Catherine further down the corridor. Greg's still body causing, me to wince further Sara returning to my side, the little boy who is my son remaining where he is. His gaze for now on Warrick as Sara Sidle dark eyes give me a look her touch coming to the open wound on my right temple.

The blood trickling intermediately from it the dark starlight gaze shining with tenderness and love as I am now thrown one entirely different type of comment. Her lips tucking into that smile as she does so:

"Does attracting the wrong sort of trouble come with your name Stokes and your son, has the same magnetism too."

Sara's delicate features moving to the boy who is now watching us both with the independent woman beside me queuing, my next question…as my dark eyes slowly rise moving from the little boy who is so much like his father. To the warm brown eyes of Nick. The words coming with ease:

"He's five years old Nicky."

The handsome set features coming back this way our hands interlinking once more. As my attention returns to the deep fresh graze on the right temple and the vulnerable look in those brown eyes before me.

Grissom and Catherine now almost reaching this part of the corridor, which swarms now completely with CSI's Warrick keeping the numbers at the other side at bay. The emergency services already having been called as I focus on the strong vulnerable man before me.

His brown warm eyes measuring my own take for take his gaze swinging to his son. Before moving back to me, the gentle hand reaching to slowly caress my own cheek as I smile whispering something in his ear at that moment as I now rise kissing his forehead.

Sara's touch leaving mines my features turning into a lopsided grin to the comment whispered in my ear with her dark eyes for a moment on Gil and Catherine. Before coming back my way her voice reaching out to the little boy.

As the brunette for now leaves my own view heading back into that all-important room. My memories now becoming completely whole as I turn to look at the five year old before me. His serious gaze struck only on me.

My smile reaching out to him the five year old now giving the exact same smile back with him now sitting directly across from me our brown eyes once more meeting comically as my right hand reaches to the scar on my left temple.

With the boy across from me, mimicking my every action. As I slowly move my right hand to the fresh wound. Flinching as I touch it the brown warm eyes directly across from me, sending a concerned glance with his right hand staying put. Completely mirroring my own as our eyes meet in instinctive, understanding as he now stands up.

Running quickly over to me before again coming to a quick halt his hand reaching out to mines in a comical handshake of sorts. As I now bring his little form closer to me hugging him before he steps back his tone warm:

"Our name's the same daddy?"

My brown eyes looking directly into his as I nod getting used to what this little boy has just added to it as I kiss his forehead receiving one back. His features turning serious again:

"You are not leaving again are you?"

With someone else now finishing that statement, a voice that makes us both turn our heads even from where I sit and it is Gil Grissom:

"No Nicky he's staying put and we still need some other pieces of this puzzle Stokes."

The latter half directed specifically at me as I manage a lopsided grin seeing Catherine beside Grissom, as my features also turn serious. Gil picking up on my gaze the young Nicky Stokes moving to the side as the steal features of my once boss greet me fully.

His hand reaching out to me as I see the concern and emotion on his greying features his tone now soft:

"Nicky."

With it being the first time he's ever fully called me by that name as our eyes meet, my gaze quickly leaving his as I feel my nervousness return slightly Gil, not letting it pass though as he comes straight to the point in typical form:

"I see you've acquainted yourself with your son. He takes way too much after you Nicky not that I am complaining any."

As I now grasp the hand fully managing to my feet this time, as I lean heavily for a moment on Gil our eyes meeting again as I mutter a comment:

"Exactly how long have you been married to Catherine Gil?"

This causing a wide smile from Grissom as I get a side ways glance:

"So you approve Nick and I think you can figure that one out for yourself plus how is the head?"

With the comment being something different from what I remember of him as he picks up on it:

"Both Brass and Greg were right about going on a hunch Nick."

This causing my head to rise, fully the look in Grissom's eyes confirming something and his words as I smile despite the look I am now receiving from him as a young voice causes us both to look:

"They've been married almost six years dad."

The dead pan tone giving the tinniest hint of humour the young features developing a golden smile as I look back Gil's way:

"I think he got that from Sara Grissom."

As I break into a grin at the look from my once boss as my features return to serious:

"Greg Grissom?"

With Gil hitting me with one of those steal glares again ignoring the former question the glint in the eyes showing the pain of the loss though:

"How's about getting that wound attended too first Nicky?"

The hall now depleted of its many numbers Greg's body and that of Ecklie's now covered as someone else replies to that comment:

"Already done Gil."

Her full smile brining my own back into play Sara's hand extending to mines as she now delicately touches the wound. Causing me to flinch once more her tone light in response:

"The paramedic's want to get you checked out at the hospital too but your son and me want to show you something first isn't that right?"

The dark eyes shifting their gaze to the five year old who is standing between us his smile deepening to his mother's word's. As I give her a puzzled look with Sara now covering the wound neatly as my next words tumble out way to fast:

"I guess your son gives you plenty of practice at this sort of thing."

Sara's eye leveling with my own as Catherine within earshot sends a smile my way the brunette giving me a glare:

"You could say that Stokes isn't that right Nicky?'

The boy beside, her giving a side ways nod to me his resemblance to his mother forging through as his hands comes to mines. Sara taking his other free hand linking the three of us to one as Warrick, Grissom and Catherine send a smile.

Nicky Stokes choosing this moment to forge the path ploughing ahead holding our hands tight forcing . My eye levels with Sara's starlight gaze and she knows where he is heading. As my own bearings try and remember.

The hall widening and opening as I partially remember being on this part of it with Catherine as we turn again. CSI's dipping out our path Sara sending me that smile again as my heart quickens to it sending me free falling.

As I realize we are at the main entrance and reception to this all, important building with it not being the way I had come in earlier with Catherine. As I now carefully lift the boy his smile widening the brown eyes mischievous Sara's hand coming to mine as we walk out into the cool October night.

The stars in the heavens above twinkling respectively as my gaze like my son's travels to one place. What can be seen clearly in this fall evening the Rocky Mountains there outline stretching both ways in the far distance.

Beyond the sparkling lights of Las Vegas itself as I turn to Sara the look sending me to the heaven's and that I am indeed home. Letting our son down at that his gaze again magnetically going to those peeks in the distance.

As I gently touch Sara's lips protectively love entwining us, embracing her fully for a moment as I look once more into those dark starlight eyes, my heart somersaulting at the look I am now receiving….

With the brown soft eyes like that of his son returning to the mountains in the far distance the strong gentle hand realizing leaving only yearning once more as my head burrows protectively into Nick's shoulder our gaze mingling on those Rocky Mountains.

The strong gentle hand encompassing my own as I slowly release from that alcove, the brown eyes flickering to new depths, as our gaze merges to one. Our son's small hand reaching up to combine with his father's, the touch coming to my own surrendering myself at that moment to them both.

My free hand now coming up to the disheveled shirt first, the brown depths of those warm eyes now soaring free Nick gracefully bringing us closer. The boy at our foot hugging us both close as I continue to gaze into those brown pools seeing the blood beginning to run from the fresh wound at the temple with the cold air having hit it.

The handsome features re-aligning to a lop-sided grin appearing feeling the protection and safety that only comes from his touch. As I lift our son his brown eyes now in complete alignment with his father's as Nick ever so gently touches my own cheek intimately sending a tremor through every atom of my body.

His son picking up on it with that smile of his the handsome profile now turning serious as I voice something off old and what I had whispered in his ear earlier:

"You complete me Nicky Stokes."

The boy between us taking in the look shared between as he voices what is written in Nick's eyes:

"I guess mum is talking about both of us dad."

His five year old humorous smile playing off us both at that moment, the handsome feature of his father - teasing me while at it. As I reach out touching the covered fresh wound and the pain off all that has happened, the jumbled memories he can only be at this moment trying to piece together as his son.

Who has taken this now silence, as an opportunity to tell Nick all about the labs and what this man across from me is unable to hide at this moment…. though Ecklie has not taken his life the mental scars and physical damage done is something, which will be with him all his life, as that strong gentle hand once more takes my own.

The touch alone cascading through every sphere of my body as that, smile of his returns the boy beside him giving his father that lopsided grin as I look between the two most important individuals in my life.

First to the boy who now rests for a moment in his father's arms before the young Nicky Stokes jumps down to his feet. Agility and at break neck speed in the way he always has done, his father showing awe and pride - to the boy he barely yet knows who is his own son our blood and DNA merged to one.

As Nick glances back this way the warm brown pools enveloping my own gaze, love like no other shining there - my concerned loving glance. Noting the blood trickling from the covered untreated wound as I am swept under, by the magnetic vulnerable innocent gaze.

The intensity in those brown pools growing as the strong arms wraps ever so gently round my waist protectively pulling me closer. My head coming to rest at the chest feeling the sure constant heart beat as the five year old looks between us once more.

His serious features going heaven wards as he now comically covers his eyes for a moment before the hand falls giving instead a huge smile. The brown eyes understanding this moment between his parents as I turn back to the person whose arms I am now in.

Noting that he is about to speak as my own hand gently lifts to his lips, surrendering instead only to the safety, warmth and love of his protective touch as the brown eyes go into free fall, the pools completely enveloping my own.

Seeing that heart and soul of his coming through the pools cascading to new depths love vast and endless shining there, as our lips once more meet nothing need spoken between us as I fall into it the kiss deepening in magnitude.

Raw emotions taking over as we ever so slowly disengage yearning like no other taking its place and the fact I am going to need to let him leave my sight once more for a little while at least. Paramedics sent by Gil and Catherine nearing us with his son wondering if he can follow him.

As the strong hand, which encompasses my own smaller one slowly and gently lets go as I shake my head to the young Nicky Stokes, that he has to stay put for now, with his father taking me by surprise at that moment.

With him lingering a moment more brushing the strand of brunette hair, which has fallen forward back into place as the hand slowly traces my cheek the gesture so small yet significant the intimacy of it taking my breath away.

Our thoughts, heart and soul one as the handsome features return to that serious look love like no other shining free in those brown pools…._with more than a year having passed since that day, of days as my dark eyes stay focused on the energetic figure who stands a few feet away from me at this moment._

With thanksgiving now being a day past Nicky Stokes looking out the window at this moment the brown warm eyes unaware I have come back through as I look between the two individuals in this cozy living area.

One sound asleep dead to the world on the couch beside the wooden carved coffee table the left arm falling limply off the couch barely reaching the coffee table and what sits on top of it. The fountain pen Catherine had given Nick gleaming at that moment in the fading light on the coffee table.

As my gaze falls tenderly and lovingly back to the six year old who has remained sound, exhausted by his exploits and his father. Baseball the latter they had been doing on this November day with it being the mountains as a family the day had been spent and where they went often in these months.

The time flying in at those Rocky Mountains, which could be seen rising in the far distance from the window Nick was currently looking out off. The bond between father and son only growing in these, months from that first emotional meeting, the important years Nick had missed being made up for now.

With the young Nicky Stokes growing in confidence and character, with the shadow that had furrowed his small number of years gone. His father returned to him as my gaze slides back to Nick.

His posture strong and vibrant with the jumbled memories remaining the bad days becoming less his recovery more than amicable given the circumstances with Ecklie's part in it. Only being partly explained, Ewan Scott Carnachan helping on that front…

As her thoughts shifted to the news that she was about to give him, before he went on shift. There love which had never faded finding only new depths in these months as she smiled mischievously with her being able to share it with him this time round and unlike then. She was uncertain whether it was a boy or girl.

The not knowing adding to her own surprise of finding out as her dark eyes slid to the mantelpiece and the recent new picture there, her finger gently touching the wedding band as her dark eyes. Fell to their son and as her right hand fell to just below her stomach, feeling the new life there as she slowly crossed to the six year old.

Kissing the sleeping boy's forehead Nick's gaze still on those mountains as she gently moved away from their son. Her dark eyes falling once more to the carved coffee table and the fountain pen given from Catherine to Nick in Dallas.

As her thoughts turned inwards starting to sing instinctively the words filling this family room as she stood for a moment tenderly, taking in the man in front of her and his son as she started to sing one specific song her hand falling back to where it had been. Her dark eyes staying put on the strong vulnerable man before her:

'_This land is your land, this land is my land_

_From California to the New York Island_

_From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters_

_This land was made for you and me._

_As I was walking that ribbon of highway_

_I saw above me that endless skyway_

_I saw below me that golden valley_

_This land was made for you and me._

_I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps_

_To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts_

_While all around me a voice was sounding_

_This land was made for you and me.'_

His brown soft eyes closed for a moment. Taking in the words to that one song Sara was singing his heart beating faster his thoughts turning inwards. To how far they had come Sara being forever his constant.

With their entrenched love only entwining deeper still the tousled memories not completely repairing as his thoughts shifted sphere. To Ecklie with Ewan Scott Carnachen at least giving them what he knew with it being little but enough to give closure, the unexplained reason's to why being better left in that dark place.

Plus though Gil had been somewhat against it. Ewan Carnachen had been spared jail his sentence decreased and that one way or other. He had saved his life long ago back in Montana, with how he had ended up getting to Montana way back then still a mystery.

As his thoughts refocused to the present and his family to the boy who was at this moment gently waking from his sleep to the sound of his mother's singing - their son -with the boy who was his anchoring, loving, and helping him to reconnect with Las Vegas and his CSI work.

The charismatic six year old, sharing ample characteristics with his mother as well and it had been a steep learning curve for them both. Gregg's loss something he felt sharply even now with him finding his feet again as a CSI Catherine, Grissom, Warrick and his now wife giving him the necessary help and understanding when things got tough.

As he thought to what else had changed with those that he had worked with in the heartlands of America making contact. Plus helping him join the dots to what else lapsed as he made another connection.

To something he could remember clearly now and to the effect of not recognizing them had. With his family in Dallas, his sister's and one brother their and that the long ago past, with the brother he had played second fiddle to growing up no longer being the case.

With Ryan having made the point of coming to see him and his family here in Las Vegas and they had made amends, there father Tom Stokes coming up for discussion as well and they were both his blood line.

As his brown soft eyes went now to his own son his thoughts temporarily returning to his one big brother and that with Sara they had when they could. Went back to his roots and Dallas, Nicky getting to spend a lot more time with his older cousins there.

While he and Sara had re-forged links with his family - links which Sara had in her own way maintained, his sisters, Neve the closest in age to him and more importantly Ryan. With them recovering from those lost years. Nicky helping a long way with it Ryan having a close unique bond with his youngest nephew one that as brother's they had never once shared.

Yet heartened him know as his son's hand found his at that moment with him visiting Jim Brass, the retired cop more than happy to see him and that like Brass. Grissom was now handing the graveyard shift over to Warrick, Catherine taking full rain over the day shift.

As his brown eyes closed a delicate hand linking through his free hand, the touch alone sending him soaring, as the last words of that precious song, came to an end his brown soft eyes striking out to those Rocky Mountains in the far distance and Las Vegas.

The Crime Lab's where he was heading later out there too as his gaze swung back to Sara those dark starlight eyes that would forever draw him, his hand gently moving from hers to gently move a dark braid of hair which had fallen forward. There son's hand now re-linking through Sara and his seeing the deep love for them both as he lifted him, pulling Sara closer to him at the same moment his gaze seeing the first star sparkle in the dusk light.

With the sky and mountains glistening to an aurora of colour in the fading light his brown eyes falling on Sara drinking that look in for, it unbound him leaving him only free falling….

Epilogue

Life is but a moment;

We are but grains of sand, adrift under the stars…

Time the only continuum; and sometimes what was once

Thought lost is returned…

A stranger to us, as we are to it, unfamiliar and desolate

Changed beyond recognition - a stranger to us still…

Yet it is bound to us.

As we are to the stars; for it is the bond which encircles us…

…and if that bond is strong enough, that what was once lost,

Shall be made whole….

For we hang by a moment by it all our lives –

For it is eternal, aligning us with our spirit and evil cannot taint it.

As it runs in all our blood - it unites us as one - no matter age, race or culture. It lives on in our children and resides in our heart.

Encircling our soul so we may help others.

It is pure unique linking us to this earth and in its simplest form it is called love…

HERE ENDITH THE STORY…..


End file.
